Cockroaches can be said to be one of the most hardy insects in the world and can sneak into all kinds of small spaces without a problem. With this, a group of scientists from Riken technology research company in Japan have successfully used cockroaches as a small-sized search robot.
According to Kenjiro Fukada, one of the scientists from Riken, they have successfully attached a solar cell film with a thickness of 4 microns and electronic equipment such as a computer and camera to a cockroach.
With equipment attached to the abdomen of this cockroach, the scientists managed to give instructions and control the movement of this cockroach using electrical signals sent to the back.
The Madagascar Hissing Cockroach is the cockroach of choice for several reasons. The first is that this type of cockroach comes with a wide shape that allows it to carry more electronic equipment, and the second is that this cockroach has no wings and reduces the risk that the equipment will fall.
Research using insects as search and rescue robots is not new. The insect-shaped robot is seen using too much battery power. The use of insects as robots is seen as more battery-friendly, because the movement is done by the insect itself, and the computer is only used to determine the direction of movement.
However, the concept of this robot insect is still present with some weaknesses that need to be fixed, such as reducing the size of the electronic components used, and also some bugs that cause the movement of this insect to be erratic.
