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Cyborg cockroach with wireless control module
Photo: Kenjiro Fukuda / dpa
Let insects walk around remotely: It sounds creepy and like animal cruelty, but it has been researched for years.
Scientists from Japan have now been able to create a particularly persistent mixture of insect and robot, so-called cyborgs.
The cockroaches carry a wireless control module and a battery powered by ultra-thin solar cells, as the team writes in the specialist journal npj Flexible Electronics.
The researchers are thus solving a major challenge.
So far, the insect cyborgs could not be supplied with electricity for a long time.
"Keeping the battery charged is essential - nobody wants a team of cyborg cockroaches suddenly running around spinning out of control," reads a statement accompanying the study.
Docking stations for charging the battery are possible, but the best solution is a solar cell – as in the scientists' experiment.
The flexible solar cell module used there is only four micrometers thick.
The scientists led by Kenjiro Fukuda from the Riken Cluster for Pioneering Research (CPR) used Madagascar hissing cockroaches (Gromphadorhina portentosa), which are around six centimeters long, for their experiments.
They attached a wireless leg control module and a lithium polymer battery to the bugs as a kind of backpack.
It was 3D printed from an elastic polymer, adapted to the curved shape of the animals.
The leg segments were stimulated via wires and controlled remotely in this way - the animals then walk in the desired direction.
System also conceivable for flying insects
According to the researchers, the attachment of the system lasted for more than a month in tests.
The animals would hardly be affected in their normal movement sequences and most of them could get up again from a supine position.
In the future, the system could possibly also be used with beetles or even with flying insects such as cicadas.
There have been many similar projects internationally for years, for example by the US military.
Animal rights activists are often appalled by such experiments.
It is debatable how useful such attempts are.
In their study, the experts point out that the cyborgs could help inspect dangerous areas or search for survivors or gas leaks after earthquakes.
However, what the advantage is compared to pure robots or drones remains open.
With less conspicuous equipment, the remote-controlled insects could possibly be used for espionage purposes.
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