Fly brain connectome with 166,700 neurons already powering robots, drones and AR demos
eyishazyer · x · 2026-09-14
HHMI Janelia and Google released the MaleCNS v1.0 connectome in early September: the full wiring diagram of an adult male fruit fly's nervous system with 166,700 neurons and millions of synaptic connections, all open data.
Within weeks, builders have:
- Wired the simulated brain into a Strandbeest-style walker, with spike patterns driving leg motors
- Hooked it into a hybrid roll-and-fly drone steering throttle and rotors
- Built AR glasses letting a digital fly navigate a real living room
- Even plugged it into a token launchpad, where its vision neurons generated the description and ticker to launch its own memecoin
The fly brain isn't literally plugged into hardware — an interface layer translating neural output into motor signals does the real work. Still, an insect went from DOOM and Chrome Dino to controlling actual machines in a matter of weeks.
Related event: Complete Fruit Fly Brain Connectome Flies Drones with Zero Flight Code(5 posts)→
More from Embodied
- Open-source companion robot Lamp starts shipping to 20+ countries at $969 — dee_hw · 2026-10-30
- SCAMPER demo: virtual rat trots and gallops with gaits it never saw in training — tyrell_turing · 2026-10-30
- DIY humanoid build, day 7: creator gives up fixing physics, adds 1-DOF ankles — _Stocko_ · 2026-10-30
- Lambda Surgical launches first-in-human study of LiDAR-based LambdaGuide at PINE — ditzikow · 2026-10-30
- Gaussian splats double as shared GPS: one city map localizes drones, robots and phones — bilawalsidhu · 2026-10-30
- SimReady dataset offers 2,677 simulation-ready 3D assets to build virtual test worlds — victormustar · 2026-10-30