Kenjiro Fukuda, Riken
Have you ever thought about seeing a solar-powered cyborg cockroach carrying a backpack that looks like an electrical circuit? A team of researchers from Japan’s RIKEN Research Institute transformed an ordinary Madagascar cockroach into a real cyborg by connecting a lithium battery, a solar cell, multiple wires and a small electronic circuit. The cyborg can be controlled using Bluetooth signals, and the researchers suggest that these robotic insects could be used for search and rescue missions in the future.
Researchers refer to their cyborg as a hybrid system of insect and computer, and that includes live insect as a platform And a miniature electronic system as a control unit. Basically, it is a dynamic robot that can be controlled like a robot, but has the ability to explore and navigate a complex environment with the mastery of an insect. Researchers say cyborgs can even outsmart traditional soft robots when it comes to useful real-world navigation.
go to the sun
Taking into account the beetle’s 6-centimeter body shape, the researchers designed a polymer backpack capable of carrying all electronic equipment without disturbing the insect when it moves. The backpack carried an electronic control unit, a lithium battery and multiple wires. Each wire was connected to the controller on one side and to the different cockroach legs on the other side.
Whenever the researchers you want cockroach To move, they send a Bluetooth signal to the circuit board, which transmits electric current to the legs via wires. These currents mimic the sensory inputs that direct the beetle to move left or right, taking advantage of reflexive behavior. The beetle’s brain is still needed to activate its muscles and move the beetle.
However, the researchers soon realized that a cyborg could be required to function for several days or even weeks. A small lithium battery won’t be long enough to meet power requirements, and because the cockroach’s brain is intact, it could abandon whatever mission it was sent out and run away.
To improve nutrition, an ultra-thin solar cell was built and implanted on the roach’s abdomen to overcome this problem. Although the solar cell was only 4 x 10mm thick, it provided 50 times the power needed for the controller. Unfortunately, it was wide enough to prevent the beetle from moving. During initial tests, the researchers found that the insect was moving at half its original speed and whenever it flipped or fell, it was unable to return to its normal orientation.
The researchers made some changes to the location and layout of the cell and ultimately were able to equip the cyborg cockroach with a solar cell and battery that delivers 17.2 megawatts of power.
Further explaining the importance of the solar cell module, the researchers and one of the authors of the study, Kenjiro Fukuda, told Ars Technica: “To carry out the urban rescue mission, the cyborgs contain motion control computers, search sensors. and more. [for] People, walkie-talkies. These require 10-100 MW of total power consumption. Therefore, insect-mounted energy harvesting devices are essential for increasing the range of activity and functionality of the biorobots. “
He also claimed that other scientists have proposed additional types of biorobots ranging from moth robot for me Cyborg beetles. However, most of these cyborgs do not have energy harvesting devices on their bodies because the space and load of the harvesting device greatly impair their ability to move. So the addition of a suitable energy harvesting device (solar cell) to recharge the ECU on a cyborg was one of the major achievements of their research.
Soft robots against cyborgs
It may seem more practical and easier to use soft robots Instead of cyborgs on search and rescue missions. Soft robots will never give up on the task like cyborg cockroaches; Also, uh It can be made faster and more efficient. So why do we need cyborg bugs? The answer is power and cost: to turn a cockroach into a cyborg, all we need is a microcircuit, a power source, some cables, a controller, and a polymer backpack. The soft robot is made entirely from scratch.
While connecting cables to a cockroach’s legs may seem like a waste of time, it takes time Soft robot construction Larger. In addition, such robots require high energy compared to their insect counterparts. “We control the movement of insects using electrical signals from the sensory nerves. This approach requires power consumption of around 100 megawatts, which is much less than the power consumption required for mobile actuators for small robots (typically 100 megawatts or more), Fukuda said.
In addition to having robotic abilities, a cyborg cockroach navigates an environment using the inputs it receives from its natural senses. This is something that robots could never accomplish and, therefore, researchers argue that cyborgs could provide better assistance during search and rescue missions than any other. Other techniques. Fukuda and his team now plan to make cyborg versions of other types of insects, including insects can fly.
Flexible electronics npj, 2022. DOI: 10.1038 / s41528-022-00207-2 (Information on DOIs)
Robindra Brahambhat is an experienced journalist and filmmaker. You are involved in science and culture news and for the past five years you have been actively working with some of the most innovative news agencies, magazines and media brands operating in different parts of the world.
