Cyborg cockroaches: The unlikely search and rescue workers of the future
Cockroaches are seemingly indestructible creatures. They can withstand temperatures of 32°F, survive for one month without food, hold their breath for 40 minutes, and live for an entire week without a head. They even have the reputation of being able to survive a nuclear apocalypse. Despite the cockroach’s obvious evolutionary advantages, scientists believe that they can upgrade this incredible insect. They have the technology. They have the capability to make the world’s first bionic insect. A cockroach will be that insect. Better than it was before. Better, stronger, faster.
Scientists from Nanyang Technological University in Singapore are working to develop cyborg cockroaches that could be used to save lives. The team has partnered with the Home Team Science and Technology Agency (HTX), a statutory board under the Ministry of Home Affairs of Singapore that helps to develop science and technology capabilities for Home Team operations. The team, led by Associate Professor Hirotaka Sato from Nanyang Technological University’s School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, is researching the viability of using cockroaches in search and rescue missions.
While exploring the feasibility of using mini robots to aid frontline responders in their disaster relief efforts, the team decided to investigate the viability of implementing cyborg cockroaches instead. Cockroaches are naturally nimble, can navigate numerous obstacles, and are hardy by nature.
So, how do you turn an insect into a cyborg? According to HTX, each cockroach is equipped with a tiny “backpack” that houses a chip with a variety of on-board devices, including an IR camera, a microphone, environmental sensors, and navigation sensors. To control the cockroach, the scientist sends electrical signals to its nerve cells, which guide and direct the insect. Unlike robots, cyborg cockroaches are able to move on their own, allowing power to be saved for other modules.
One use case for cyborg cockroaches is helping to find and rescue humans trapped under rubble. As the insect moves through the debris, its integrated IR camera and machine learning algorithm can be used to detect the thermal pattern of humans.
The team recently published their findings in a paper titled “Cyborg Insect Factory: Automatic Assembly System to Build up Insect-computer Hybrid Robot Based on Vision-guided Robotic Arm Manipulation of Custom Bipolar Electrodes.” In an excerpt from the paper, the team writes: “We developed a stimulation protocol for the intersegmental membrane between pronotum and mesothorax of the Madagascar hissing cockroach, allowing for bipolar electrodes' automatic implantation using a robotic arm. The assembly process was integrated with a deep learning-based vision system to accurately identify the implantation site, and a dedicated structure to fix the insect (68 s for the whole assembly process).”
“The automatically assembled hybrid robots demonstrated steering control (over 70 degrees for 0.4 s stimulation) and deceleration control (68.2% speed reduction for 0.4 s stimulation), matching the performance of manually assembled systems. Furthermore, a multi-agent system consisting of 4 hybrid robots successfully covered obstructed outdoor terrain (80.25% for 10 minutes 31 seconds), highlighting the feasibility of mass-producing these systems for practical applications. The proposed automatic assembly strategy reduced preparation time for the insect-computer hybrid robots while maintaining their precise control, laying a foundation for scalable production and deployment in real-world applications.”
The researchers introduced their cyborg cockroaches to the public at the Milipol Asia-Pacific – TechX Summit 2024 exhibition, which was held in April 2024 at the Marina Bay Sands convention center.