RoboRoaches may one day work as first responders

New Scientist : A team of researchers has developed a tiny equipment-laden backpack that when attached to the back of a cockroach turns the insect into a mini cyborg. Alper Bozkurt of North Carolina State University in Raleigh and colleagues have called their creation the RoboRoach and are marketing it on Kickstarter. They have equipped Madagascar hissing cockroaches with a backpack containing either a single microphone or a trio of microphones. The microphones pick up sound waves and send them to neurons located in the cockroaches’ antennae. The neurons then convey the information to the brain. Through the use of such microstimulation, the researchers have been able to direct the cockroaches in specific directions by making them think there is an obstacle in their path. Although for the moment the insect robots are more an exercise in neuroscience engineering, the researchers hope that one day they could have many useful applications, such as in search-and-rescue operations by picking up sounds from people trapped after a disaster.