Japanese scientists create remote-controlled cockroach – in pictures
Researchers in Japan have engineered a system for creating remote-controlled robot cockroaches. All photos: Reuters
The bugs are equipped with a tiny wireless control module that is powered by a rechargeable battery attached to a solar cell.
A Madagascar hissing cockroach is kept in a box during a photo opportunity at the Thin-Film Device Laboratory of Japanese research institution Riken in Wako, Saitama Prefecture.
Despite the mechanical devices, ultrathin electronics and flexible materials allow the insects to move freely.
It is hoped these achievements will help make the use of cyborg insects a practical reality.
An international team led by researchers at the Riken Cluster for Pioneering Research reported the results in the scientific journal 'npj Flexible Electronics'.
Keeping the battery adequately charged is critical — nobody wants a suddenly out-of-control swarm of cyborg cockroaches roaming around.
A backpack conforming perfectly to the curved surface of the cockroach, allows the rigid electronic device to be stably mounted on the thorax for more than a month.
After carefully examining natural cockroach movements, the scientists realized that the abdomen changes shape and portions of the exoskeleton overlap.
To accommodate this, they interleaved adhesive and non-adhesive sections on to the films, which allowed them to bend but also stay attached.
Lead researcher Kenjiro Fukuda said: 'Since abdominal deformation is not unique to cockroaches, our strategy can be adapted to other insects like beetles, or perhaps even flying insects like cicadas in the future.'
