Remote-controlled cockroaches
SEP 13, 2012
DOI: 10.1063/PT.5.026339
Los Angeles Times : A radio signal emitted from a joystick allows electrical engineers from North Carolina State University in Raleigh to control the motions of specially modified cockroaches. Madagascar hissing cockroaches, which are twice the size of the average cockroach found in the US, were outfitted with computer chips on their backs. Wires transmitted electrical signals from the chips to the antennae and to sensory organs on the belly to tell the cyborg cockroaches when and which way to go. Alper Bozkurt, who led the project, said that the researchers were able to guide the cockroaches around an S-shaped curve. And he envisions a future in which such “biobots” could be used by search-and-rescue teams to explore collapsed buildings.
© 2012 American Institute of Physics
