Combining millions of years of evolution with tech wizardry: The cyborg cockroach

From disaster zones to extreme environments, there remain areas difficult for even humans to reliably access. This poses a problem for search-and-rescue operations, research, surveillance, and more. Now, however, a research team from Osaka University and Diponegoro University, Indonesia is hard at work on one potential solution: the cyborg insect.

The work is published in the journal Soft Robotics.

Cyborg insects have a lot of advantages over traditional robots. Power consumption is less of an issue, so it’s easier to miniaturize them, and they are even “pre-built” in a sense. However, research on cyborg insects has been limited to simple environments, like flat surfaces supplemented with external devices to aid navigation. The research team wanted to see if a cyborg insect could navigate a more complex, real-world environment.

“The creation of a functioning robot on a small scale is challenging; we wanted to sidestep this obstacle by keeping things simple,” explains Mochammad Ariyanto, lead author of the study. “By simply attaching electronic devices to insects, we can avoid the finer details of robotics engineering and focus on achieving our goals.”

Sensors that detect motion and obstacles were mounted onto the cockroaches and were programmed to work alongside their innate abilities, such as climbing or wall-following. The small electronic circuits delivered navigation commands to the cockroaches when needed, but otherwise stayed out of the way, letting the cyborg insects avoid obstacles or recover from falls naturally.

The team tested the cyborg insects on obstacle courses of sandy ground strewn with stones and wood. Even in relatively complex environments that were unknown to the cockroaches, the cyborg insects were able to overcome obstacles and reach their target destination.

“I believe our cyborg insects can achieve objectives with less effort and power than purely mechanical robots,” says Keisuke Morishima, senior author. “Our autonomous biohybrid navigation system overcomes problems that have traditionally challenged robots, such as recovering from falling. This is what is needed for stepping outside the laboratory and into real-life scenarios like wilderness.”

The cyborg insects already have some jobs lined up. They can inspect post-disaster sites that remain too dangerous for humans and can be used to identify rescue workers in hostile conditions. Of course, they can also be used to explore environments too small for humans, such as pipes or collapsed buildings.

More ambitious goals aim to harness their ability to work in low-oxygen environments, facilitating their use in deep-sea or space exploration.

It’s not all daunting work though—the cyborgs could even be allowed entry to some of our most delicate and sensitive cultural heritage sites, a privilege denied to most of humankind.

With further research set to improve cyborg speed and navigation even more, rescue teams and archaeologists should be prepared to welcome their new six-legged workers.