The Wind-up Birds project is pretty interesting as it steps into the realm of nature and how robotics fit in. These “birds” are actually mechanical woodpeckers that are remotely controlled by a micro-controller.
How will nature treat them, with [hostillity] or acceptance? How will the wind-up birds adapt to heat/cold wet/dry conditions? Will small insects creep inside the circuitry creating possible short circuits, beetles eat the wood, squirrels use the wood slit as nut storage (or the roof as a slide?), birds use it as a shelter, etc.? Will they be treated as foreign objects or accepted into the local eco-system?
What do you think are the answers to those questions?