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Singapore team’s 68-second feat opens door to cyborg cockroaches in disaster relief

Fast automated system shows the way to mass-produce remote-controlled cyborg roaches for future disaster search missions

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Automated system devised by scientists at Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University can transform live insects into steerable biobots in just 68 seconds, which is 13 times faster than manual surgery. Photo: Shutterstock
Zhang Tongin Beijing

Scientists in Singapore have industrialised the production of remote-controlled cyborg cockroaches that one day could form a tiny army suitable for disaster search missions.

Last month, researchers led by Hirotaka Sato at Nanyang Technological University published their previously preprinted study describing a system for the mass production of mechanical cockroaches.

The July 28 article in Nature Communications said the team had continued with their pioneering concept of an “insect robot factory”.

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They had improved the control of the robotic cockroach, increasing its turning ability from 70 degrees to over 80 degrees, and also verified this precise control through a series of experiments, it said.

The first author of the paper graduated from the Harbin Institute of Technology.

Can swarms of cyborg cockroaches save lives?

Can swarms of cyborg cockroaches save lives?

A reviewer of the article said the paper demonstrated “meaningful work on insect-computer hybrid robots, which will reduce mass production time and cost for practical applications”.

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