Strange new COCKROACH ROBOT squeezes through impenetrable gaps

UC Berkeley researchers invented a tiny cockroach-shaped robot.

A team of researchers from the University of California, Berkeley have created a robot based on a cockroach. The new technology is so innovative; it is hard not to find yourself stunned to witness the cockroach bot escape into an extremely miniscule gap.

MUNTINLUPA, PHILIPPINES (Catholic Online) - A team of researchers from the University of California, Berkeley created the cockroach bot in such a way that it can use its form or body shape to pass through impenetrable and cluttered environments. The researchers hope their ideas and invention will be used to encourage future robot designs used for purposes of monitoring the environment, and aiding in rescue missions.

The researchers studied the Blaberus discoidalis, also called the discoid cockroach, that live on the floor of the tropical rainforests. This kind of cockroach encounters diverse types of cluttered environments, such as tree trunks, shrubs, leaf litter and grass.

After studying the discoid cockroach, the team tested their small, six-legged cockroach bot to see if it could go through a similar course. The cockroach bot was fitted with an updated shell, after the team discovered with a rectangular body, it regularly got stuck.

With the new shell, it was able to traverse the obstacle courses using the roll maneuver similar to real cockroaches. Researchers note that this adaptive behavior came from the shell itself and did not affect the robot's programming.

"Our next steps will be to study a diversity of terrain and animal shapes to discover more terradynamic shapes, and even morphing shapes," explained Chen Li, the postdoctoral researcher who leads the Berkeley team. "These new concepts will enable terrestrial robots to go through various cluttered environments with minimal sensors and simple controls."

The very first assessment results of the cockroach robot's performance were published in IOP Publishing's journal Bioinspiration & Biomimetics.

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