Living remote-control cockroaches are now a thing. They actually exist. Besides wowing people and sparking ethics debates, however, the cyborg insects may ultimately have some very worthwhile applications. A team led by North Carolina State University’s Dr. Edgar Lobaton has brought one of those applications a step closer to reality, by developing software that would allow “swarms” of the cockroaches to map hazardous environments such as collapsed buildings.
The cockroach-guiding technology, which was also developed at NC State, involves fitting Madagascar hissing cockroaches with “backpacks” containing an inexpensive, lightweight, commercially-available chip, along with a wireless receiver and transmitter, and a microcontroller.
That microcontroller is wired into the cockroach’s antennae and sensory organs known as the cerci. When commands are sent wirelessly by a remote human operator, the controller electrically stimulates one or more of the antennae and/or cerci, dictating the directional movements of the insects.
In the building exploration scenario, a swarm of sensor-wearing remote-control cockroaches or other insects – known collectively as “biobots” – would be released into a damaged structure. Their human operators would give them some time to disperse in a random pattern, and would then send a signal causing the biobots to proceed to the nearest wall and follow along its base.
Down the road, it is hoped that insects equipped with other types of sensors could also be used to map the location of radioactive or chemical threats.
SharathAnnaiah 