Researchers at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore have demonstrated that living insects can be remotely controlled. They equipped Madagascar hissing cockroaches with a “backpack” connected to the insects’ sensory organs via two electrodes. Using radio signals and a microcontroller, researchers could send electrical impulses to make the giant cockroaches move in different directions, slow down, or stop.
In a new study, the same team from Singapore has developed an “automatic assembly method for insect-computer hybrid robots.” This method is essentially a robot that can assemble remote-controlled cockroaches quickly. The system takes just 68 seconds to transform a single cockroach into a cyborg cockroach.
Previously, the manual process of attaching devices to cockroaches was difficult and time-consuming. The success of these procedures depended on the precision of the researchers, and any deviations could affect the remote control of the insects. To eliminate human error and enable mass production, the automatic assembly of insect-computer hybrid robots is essential.
The assembly system includes an operation table where adult hissing cockroaches, which can grow up to six centimeters long, are anesthetized and secured. A robotic arm then picks up a prepared backpack and implants two electrodes into the cockroach. This is done by exposing part of the pronotum to access the membrane underneath, where the electrodes are fixed. The backpack, containing the control unit, is attached to the metathorax using small hooks.
Since each cockroach varies in size, the system must identify deviations to find the ideal reference points. This is achieved using artificial intelligence in the form of computer vision. A camera scans the cockroach’s body and, based on training data, determines where the robotic arm should place the electrodes.
The robotic system is 60 times faster than a human. While manual preparation and operation could take up to an hour per cockroach, the system can equip four insects with backpacks in just under eight minutes. In some cases, it took slightly more than a minute per cockroach.
To verify the quality of the assembly line process, the researchers compared the cyborg cockroaches. The results confirmed that the automatically assembled insect-computer hybrid robots achieved similar movement control to manually assembled systems, making mass production of hybrid robots feasible.
But why is there a need for mass production of these hybrid robots? The researchers point to potential applications such as search and rescue missions after disasters or inspections of factories and industrial plants. Equipped with sensors, these insects could be deployed to locate trapped individuals or identify leaks and cracks in structures. To be truly effective and cover a large area quickly, dozens or even hundreds or thousands of prepared insects are needed.
Before cyborg cockroaches can be used outside the lab, other challenges must be addressed. Fabian Steinbeck, a researcher at Bielefeld University, who also studies bio-robots, believes that using them in search and rescue missions could be difficult due to signal reception issues in collapsed buildings.