Cyborg Roaches Detect Radiation
Writing by Greg Intermaggio on Friday, 19 of February , 2010 at 3:37 am
The future of robotics is here. It’s **drum roll** cockroaches? Texas A&M University’s Nuclear Security Science and Policy Institute (say that 10 times fast!) is developing technology that allows cockroaches to be controlled via a tiny chip on a cockroach’s back that sends electrical signals to make the roach move. “It’s like a cattle prod for cockroaches,” says William Charlton, an associate professor at Texas A&M.
But why cockroaches? Well, the same chip that communicates remotely with a computer to prod the roach has several types of radiation sensor, meaning that it can detect whether conditions in a given area are safe for humans.
“Cockroaches really are the perfect medium for this,” says William Charlton, an associate professor of nuclear engineering at the university and a principal investigator on the project. “They can go for extraordinarily long periods of time without food. They exist on every continent except Antarctica. They’re very radiation resistant, and they can carry extremely large amounts of weight compared to their body mass.”
If Charlton gets his way, we’ll have mini-armies of 20 or so roaches surveying areas as large as one square kilometer, all controlled by remote operators, all reporting data about chemical conditions in the area.
I, for one, welcome our new insect overlords
It may look almost cartoonish in proportion, but the picture above is the real deal. How long till we see “Control Your Own Cockroach” kits for the kids?
Comments (3)
Category: Biorobotics, Cybernetics, General, Military, Research, Testing
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Comment by kert
Made Friday, 19 of February , 2010 at 10:16 am
Hmm .. i remember that scene from Fifth Element where Tricky was driving his roach on the president’s desk ?
Comment by Andy
Made Sunday, 21 of February , 2010 at 4:34 am
It’s funny because nobody cares about them since they’re cockroaches. But if they were anything else people would be talking about how cruel it is!
All that aside, I think this is awesome and I can’t wait for control your own cockroach kits :P
Comment by Rob
Made Friday, 27 of August , 2010 at 12:01 pm
Seems like an easy-to-squash robotic menace…
