Control a cockroach with a wireless sensor

Cockroaches are usually disregarded as the utterly useless creatures which are no good and attract a severe feeling of aversion at their very sight. However, this may change as these little things gear up for some tech adventure.

Researchers at North Carolina State university have been trying to ‘control’ a  cockroach’s movements. And they have succeeded by fitting one with a microcontroller. The idea is to make a cockroach go along a specific path, something which may eventually lead to more useful applications such as carrying a tiny camera on top of its head to a specific location.

The microcontroller was connected to the cockroach’s antennas and abdomen. It was then used to send certain signals which would fool the insect into believing that some object was up ahead or that it was in danger. Through these signals, it dictated the movements which it closely followed.

To demonstrate this accomplishment, researchers designed a curved path on the floor and then prodded a microcontroller-fitted cockroach to follow that path in its exact shape.

Scientists hope that some day, such high-tech cockroaches can be used to access such remote place which are normally inaccessible. Imagine having a cockroach with a tiny camera fit into the tiniest crevices and bring back a first-hand view of yet-unseen places.

Salman Latif
Categories: General