Japanese researchers turn a hissing cockroach into robot

The researchers converted a cockroach into a robot that could be deployed in disaster areas too dangerous for human search and rescue personnel to enter.

The researchers, mainly from the Riken research institute, said a Madagascar hissing cockroach fitted with a ultrathin solar cell and a short-range wireless communication unit turned right or left in accordance with their instructions.

If we can put a thin temperature sensor on the bugs, we may be able to mobilise cyborg insects to find people buried under debris in a disaster, said Kenjiro Fukuda, senior research scientist at Riken.

A power generator is essential for controlling the movements of insects and collecting data from them.

Fukuda and his colleagues developed a 4 micrometer-thick solar cell, the world's thinnest, to not affect the motion abilities of insects. The battery can be recharged as long as the insects are alive.

The research team said that the 6 centimeter-long Madagascar hissing cockroach mounted with the solar cell could easily right itself when it was turned over during an experiment.

The Bluetooth unit was placed on the upper part of the cockroach's body.

Cockroaches have a pair of sensory organs called cercus on the rearmost segments of their abdomen. Fukuda said that the technology can be applied to many fields, depending on the types of sensors to be installed.

He said that we will work to improve the performance of the solar cell, such as increasing power generation capacity.

The team's findings were published in the online edition of the scientific journal npj Flexible Electronics.