What is Cyborgs?
One way is to directly build controlled machines on these natural creatures by implanting stimulation electrodes into their brains or peripheral nervous systems to control their movement and even see what they see, creating so-called cyborgs.
Why the Cyborg research needs Cockroach?
Cockroaches have incredible movement abilities that far surpass any biomimetic robot of comparable size. As a result, cyborg cockroaches with such agile mobility are well suited for search and rescue tasks in unknown and unstructured locations that standard robots find difficult to approach.
How the research use Cockroaches?
“The goal of this research is to improve the movement performance of cyborg cockroaches,” experts stated. To that end, they suggested a machine learning-based solution that uses IMU readings to automatically detect the motion status of this cyborg cockroach. If the cockroach comes to a halt or freezes in the dark or a cooler environment, electrical stimulation will be administered to their brain to get them to move. The stimulation is reduced with this online detector to prevent cockroach fatigue caused by too many stimulations. We don’t need to control the cyborg like we would a robot. They have some autonomy, which is the foundation of their agile mobility.
“With such a system, the cyborg successfully increased its average search rate and travelled distance by 68% and 70%, respectively, while reducing stop time by 78%,” the study authors wrote. “We demonstrated that electrical stimulation of the cockroach’s cerci is feasible; it can overcome its innate habit, for example, increasing movement in dark and cold environments where it normally decreases locomotion.”