A team of researchers from Osaka University in Japan has managed to manipulate the behavior of cockroaches to make them more useful for search and rescue operations. Cockroaches are naturally drawn to dark, narrow spaces and tend to become inactive in cooler environments, making them difficult to use in unfamiliar and cluttered environments. To overcome this, the researchers transformed a cockroach into a cyborg by attaching a microcomputer and sensors. The cyborg cockroach is controlled by an artificial intelligence (AI) that is based on machine learning, allowing it to move autonomously in dark environments.
To create the cyborg cockroach, the researchers equipped a Madagascar hissing cockroach with an Arduino Zero and a wireless module to receive stimulation signals via electrodes in the thorax and on the cerci. They also included a 3-axis gyroscope, a 3-axis accelerometer, and sensors for air pressure and temperature. A 32-bit microcontroller serves as the transmitter for the stimulation signals.
The electronics use the gyroscope and the accelerometer to determine whether the cockroach is moving or not. The AI decides whether to stimulate running or not, based on machine learning algorithms that have been trained to recognize optimal movement behaviors. If the cockroach stays in the dark or cooler surroundings, it is automatically stimulated, which encourages it to move. The AI stimulates as little as possible to prevent the cockroach from tiring.
According to study author Keisuke Morishima, the cyborg cockroach can move autonomously, which is the basis for its agile locomotion. In a rescue scenario, the researchers only need to stimulate the cockroach to change its direction if it goes in the wrong direction or to move when it unexpectedly stops. Thanks to the AI’s optimization of the cockroach’s movement behavior, the cyborg cockroach was able to increase the distance it covered by 70% and reduce its idle time by 78%.
Overall, the researchers have shown that it is possible to overcome a cockroach’s innate behavior and create a cyborg cockroach that can move autonomously in dark and cold environments. With this breakthrough, cockroaches could become more useful in search and rescue operations, and could even be outfitted with mini livestream cameras for real-time surveillance.
