SINGAPORE —Â The next time you call 911 in an emergency, the team that comes to rescue you could be a swarm of cyborg cockroaches! Researchers in Asia are preparing armies of these hybrid insects to act as a strange alternative to first responders.
The roaches, controlled by tiny onboard computers, were designed to carry out search and rescue missions in potentially hazardous environments. Specifically, teams at Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University and Osaka University examined how algorithm-controlled cockroaches navigate through dusty and rocky terrain to reach their target.
Madagascar hissing cockroaches were fitted with tiny backpacks housing a circuit board attached to the insect, which included the locomotion control system and wireless communication module. Researchers found that the algorithm reduced entanglements among the cockroach cyborgs and facilitated interactions among neighbors to aid trapped teammates.
It also allowed overturned roaches to recover with the help of their neighboring robo-roaches, thus enhancing the safety and robustness of this multi-cyborg system. Simply put, if one cyborg bug flipped over while traveling to the target, another roach in the swarm could come over and get it back on track.
“Navigating multi-robot systems in complex terrains has always been a challenging task. This is due to the inherent limitations of traditional robots in collision avoidance, adaptation to unknown environments, and sustained energy efficiency,” the study authors write in the journal ariXiv.
The team adds that swarm robotics research demonstrates the potential of integrating biological organisms with robotics and control theory to create more intelligent autonomous systems.
This isn’t the first experiment to use an unpopular creature as a high-tech first responder. In 2022, researchers in Africa started training rats with their own specialized backpacks to help in earthquake response. Those rodents carried microphones, video gear, and location trackers with them into disaster zones, looking for survivors in places that a normal human emergency worker couldn’t even dream of squeezing into.
So, if you see a wave of roaches coming toward you in the future, don’t panic and grab the bug spray — they may actually be coming to help!
SWNS writer Dean Murray contributed to this report.