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A cyborg cockroach could one day save your life.
(Now, there's a phrase I never thought.)
Abhishek Dutta, a professor at the University of Connecticut, has created a robot-cockroach hybrid, a wired biological insect, based on the Madagascar's whistling cockroach.
One of the largest species of cockroaches, wingless whistlers are often kept as pets (* chills *). But it is their reputation as an excellent climber (even able to evolve the smooth glass) that has probably attracted Dutta in the arthropod.
"The use of insects as platforms for small robots has an incredible number of useful applications, from search and rescue to national defense," he said in a statement. communicated.
Dr. Frankensteins, Dutta, and Evan Faulkner, a bachelor's student, have attached a microcircuit to roach for more reliable and accurate control. The small computer can detect six degrees of free movement, acceleration and direction.
The researchers are also able to track the ambient temperature around the creature. tests have shown that the temperature of the environment of the
According to UConn, roaches are more likely to go for walks when it's hot.
A cockroach with an implanted neurocontroller (via the Dutta Lab)
The microcircuit is like a miniature backpack, its threads attaching to the lobes of the antennae of the insect. Tiny electrical impulses sent to the nervous tissue simulate an obstacle.
For example, a small charge on the left antenna causes the creature to move. The researchers found, however, that the intensity of the actions decreased after the initial stimulus. So, if a cockroach does hard left after the first impulse, the subsequent turns are less spectacular. Practical knowledge if you are the one doing the driving.
A small Bluetooth transmitter and receiver allows close use via a smartphone.
Cockroach robots are not new. But while other labs have developed similar control systems, UConn is distinguished by its higher degree of regulation, real-time feedback, and multichannel stimulation pathways.
"Our microcircuit provides a sophisticated system for capturing real-time data on an insect's heading and acceleration, allowing us to extrapolate its trajectory," said Dutta. "We believe that this advanced closed-loop model system provides better control over precision maneuvers and overcomes some of the technical limitations currently facing today's micro-robots.
This research will be published in the journal Proceedings of the Cognitive Computational Neuroscience Conference, Philadelphia, 2018.
No cockroach was injured during these experiments.
Most people do not want to see a crawling insect, let alone study it. But insects are the favorite muse of robots. Discover more here
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