Cyborg Roaches with Needles Could Someday Deliver Aid

Imagine being trapped under rubble after an earthquake and seeing an electronics-covered cockroach with a spring-loaded needle on its back scuttling toward you. Though the sight might be unnerving, such a prototype paramedic cyborg, dubbed the 'Paraborg,' could one day deliver lifesaving aid to disaster victims who might otherwise be impossible to reach.

For decades, scientists have sought to develop cyborg insects as a shortcut around some of the hardest problems in robotics, according to T. Thang Vo-Doan, director of the Biorobotics Lab at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia, which published a paper on the Paraborgs. Building an insect-size robot that moves reliably through rubble, climbs irregular surfaces, recovers from falls, carries its own power, and still has room for useful sensors is extraordinarily difficult. Insects already possess much of that mobility, so researchers can graft an electronic interface onto an insect rather than building artificial versions of every body part.

Previous work has shown that cyborg beetles and moths could be steered, but that research largely focused on controlling movements for passive sensing. In 2023, Vo-Doan and fellow researcher Thanh Nho Do discussed search-and-rescue cyborg insects ahead of IEEE ICRA. They asked what happens after an insect finds a trapped victim. Could it go beyond locating someone and actually provide assistance while rescuers are still trying to reach them?