Cyborg Cockroach Helps Locate Earthquake Survivors, Opens a New Paradigm in Search and Rescue Missions

Biohybrid robots have found their practical applications in various fields, from bionic animals to machines made from muscles. Just recently, a team of researchers investigated the potential of these tiny machines in searching and rescuing earthquake survivors.

Rise of Cockroach Cyborg

On March 11, 2011, Japan experienced a 9.1-magnitude earthquake that struck the northeast coast of Honshu. Considered the most muscular tremor in Japan's recorded history, the Tohoku Earthquake killed around 18,000 people. Hirotaka Sato watched desperate search and rescue missions unfold, and that was when he thought of developing a technology that could save people.

When the Tohoku earthquake struck, rescue workers used dogs to search through the rubble of collapsed buildings. For decades, dog-inspired robots have been developed to perform similar functions. However, most of these robots are restricted to exploring the surface when confronted with mountains of rubble.

Now an engineer at Nanyang Technological University of Singapore, Sato envisaged a cyborg insect, a swarm of live creatures that scurry through the rubble and can be controlled by implanted electrodes. The insects would carry mounted sensors that can identify survivors and transmitters to signal their location to rescuers.

Sato has chosen the Madagascar hissing cockroach (Gromphadorhina portentosa) as the basis for his invention. These 2-inch (5 centimeters) long creatures can carry up to 0.53 ounce (15 grams) of mounted technology, including an infrared camera and a processor that can detect living people. Sato needed a means to direct their movement to ensure they remained in the target area.

Sato attached electrodes to the different parts of the insect's body to make this possible. These electrodes can be controlled by either a remote human operator or the onboard computer. His team uses the insect's natural behavior by electrically stimulating touch receptors to induce a turn.

The cyborg insect can navigate left, right, and forward and can also be left to travel autonomously to programmed destinations. Sato and his team are refining the tracking and communications system needed for the creatures to tell rescuers where to find survivors who need help.

Emerging Field of Biohybrid Robotics

Sato's laboratory is one of many facilities worldwide that works on biohybrid robotics. In this discipline, engineers seek to make robots by combining conventional metal and plastic components with living biological tissues.

In this field of robotics, the type and amount of biological material used differ between researchers, depending on the challenges they try to solve. Roboticists harness the potential of largely intact biological systems in making cyborg insects.

In other cases, researchers explore how small amounts of living tissue could serve specific functions in otherwise conventional robots. Meanwhile, some of the most ambitious projects utilize living cells at the core of robot designs, like those that seek to create powerful, self-healing muscles that a robot can use to move.

Despite the differences in approaches, most researchers involved in biohybrid robotics have a shared interest in harnessing nature to develop more functional and useful devices. For now, serious obstacles stand in the way of bringing biohybrid robots to life.