Cockroach Robot‎ may be the the future of disaster help

Cockroaches may be unwelcome house guests, but their hard-to-kill nature could help save humans trapped in buildings destroyed by storms, earthquakes or terrorism.As part of the research, the University of California, Berkeley, scientists have also revealed why it takes so much force to squash the pesky insect and therefore, they have studied how cockroaches infiltrate our homes and used the findings to develop a soft-bodied robot that can compress itself and crawl into confined spaces.

As Dr Robert Full, from the university's Department of Integrative Biology, said "soft-bodied animals, such as worms, had inspired a new field of soft robotics but  there were clear disadvantages in the functionality of these robots, including speed of travel and their ability to support weight.
'This discovery not only has far-reaching implications regarding the behaviour and ecology of insects and other arthropodes', says Weihmann. 'Our results can also contribute to solving some problems we still have with the movement of robots.'

Robots with legs generally have better cross-country mobility than robots with wheels. Particularly at high running speeds, however, robots use up a lot of energy -- in contrast to many animals. Thus, the cockroaches' locomotion pattern could contribute to finding a solution that would let robots run at a high speed with an acceptable expenditure of energy. 'Robots with legs that can be used here on Earth after disasters, or on Mars or other planets, are often modelled on insects', Weihmann explains. 'Adapting the coordination patterns of robot legs to those of fast-running cockroaches can help the robot use energy more efficiently and hence increase its endurance in an inhospitable environment.'

"I think [cockroaches] are as revolting and disgusting as other people do, but they can teach us important design principles"-Professor Robert Full


For the study, published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Dr Full and co-author doctoral student Kaushik Jayaram focused on the ability of the American cockroach, Periplaneta Americana, to traverse crevices and crawl in confined spaces.

watch as cockroach move through confined space:https://youtu.be/o6x-iMA_4AM