We mostly think of cockroaches as a nuisance- they’re dirty, hang out in gross things, eat our foods, and have the potential to spread diseases. A recent meta-analysis of the contaminants that cockroaches carry measured in at least 78 different species of bacteria.* But, in perhaps the ultimate villain to hero storyline, what if we could use these ordinary pests as something extraordinary in times of crisis?  

Enter, the cyborg cockroach. Half computer, half roach, this combination of nature and machine has the potential to be a game changer for search and rescue missions in urban areas. Cockroaches are well-suited to search and rescue missions, as they are small enough to crawl through small openings in rubble, can self-right themselves if they get overturned, are adept at moving in dark and sheltered places, and are great climbers.  

Previous studies concerning cockroaches in search and rescue missions mainly focused on using cockroaches as tiny videographers, where cameras were attached to battery-powered “backpacks” that the cockroaches would wear. However, this method left a lot to be desired, as these systems take up a lot of battery power, require a lot of human input, and don’t always provide the best images in darkened areas. In addition, cockroaches tend to stick in one place once they reach an area that they deem appropriate shelter, like a dark corner. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the potential of cyborg cockroaches operating and navigating complex environments “on their own” thanks to machine learning.  

To prevent cockroaches from slacking on their important search and rescue mission jobs, they were each fitted with an individual wireless stimulator backpack. The backpack features multiple tools and sensors for the job. For one, it acts as the stimulant for the cockroach to keep exploring disaster zones by stimulating the antennae and the cerci. Both are important sensory organs for cockroaches that help them navigate their worlds. Second, it contains a transmitter that wirelessly sends data about the location and movement of the cockroach back to the computer. This allows the computer to determine where the cockroach should go next. Third, it is fitted with a tiny laser sensor that can help determine the distance of the cockroach to a solid object. Lastly, it’s also fitted with a small thermal infrared sensor to detect human body heat. All of this is packed in a backpack that is 0.8 inches long on top of adult Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches.

 

The researchers conducted experiments where the cyborg cockroaches were asked to navigate difficult areas, such as sharp corners, and whether they were able to find a human in a complex environment. The cyborg cockroaches had a success rate of 82.3% navigating sharp corners in a complex environment, which is a huge win for a species that generally likes to stay hunkered down in those areas. The researchers also were able to create a user interface that allowed humans to “take control” of the cyborg cockroach and manually operate the cockroach within a complex environment with the laser and infrared sensors as guides, rather than cameras. However, most importantly, they were able to successfully conduct a trial where a human was detected in a complex environment by a cyborg cockroach that was completely run on machine learning without any sort of human intervention. While this human detection occurred at a short distance of 110 cm, the experiment still emphasizes how relevant and important these cyborg cockroaches could be. To view the cyborg cockroach in action, click here. ( (put in link here): https://drive.google.com/file/d/1plXFI0Isn6a8Bs3fHcDmFtb37AJ9WEcE/view) 

 

This on-board obstacle avoidance packed into the cyborg cockroach backpacks has the potential to be a game-changer. While there’s a lot of testing that still needs to be done, the fact that a completely automated cockroach was able to successfully find a human in a testing scenario is a great first step in a tool that could potentially be used to save lives.  

In addition, this kind of technology has a lot of potential in the pest management sphere. Cockroaches often engage in aggregation behavior. Potentially, the use of different species of cyborg cockroaches could lead you directly to the source of the infestation. Cockroaches are much better at finding each other than we are, so the use of cyborg cockroaches to tell you exactly what areas you should be addressing with your pest management tools could not only save resources, but also time taken for inspection.  

With all the beneficial potential for this kind of technology, I, for one, accept our new cockroach robot overlords.  

Article by Laura Rosenwald, BCE

References

Ariyanto et al. 2024, Osaka University (Japan) and Diponegoro University (Indonesia), Published February 29 2024. Feedback control of automatic navigation for cyborg cockroach without external motion capture system 

*Nasirian, H. 2019. Contamination of Cockroaches (Insecta: Blattaria) by Medically Important Bacteriae: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. Journal of Medical Entomology, Volume 56, Issue 6. 1534-1554.  

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