The $7 Million roach

A remote-control roach


This roach has been surgically implanted with a micro-robotic backpack that allows researchers to control its movements. This is Robo-roach.

"Insects can do many things that people can't, " said Assistant Professor Isao Shimoyama, head of the bio-robot research team at Tokyo University. "The potential applications of this work for mankind could be immense." Within a few years, Shimoyama says, electronically controlled insects carrying mini-cameras or other sensory devices could be used for a variety of sensitive missions - like crawling through earthquake rubble to search for victims, or slipping under doors on espionage surveillance.

'Over the past three years, researchers have reduced the weight of the backpacks to one-tenth of an ounce, or about twice the weight of the roaches themselves. "Cockroaches are very strong," said Swiss researcher Raphael Holzer, part of the Tokyo University team. "They can lift 20 times their own weight."

The Japanese government has deemed the research credible enough to award $7 million to Shimoyama's micro-robotics team and biologists at Tsukuba University.

This is some amazing technology I have also seen a remote controled rat before but never something as small as a bug. Cameras are getting smaller all the time how long before we have little roach spies running around.

www.geocities.com...

www.intercorr.com...

Anyone remember the scene on the fifth element where the remote controlled roach spies on the president? It's nice to see technology catching up with Hollywood. Now if we can just have flying cars, hover boards, and self-cleaning coats my life will be fulfilled.

I have to say that came to mind when I first found this article. It had a radar dish on its back in the movie and nobody payed any notice to it.

Strange how stuff like that in movies might be closer to real life then we think

I thought this post was going to have a giant dubbie in it... my mistake.

...but seriously this is interesting technology, it not a little inhumane. This will help with many place and things too small for "conventional" robots.

I don't know what I'd do if I saw that crawl underneath my door, but I would be a little suspicious of a roach with a backpack and LED headlights.

Of course, if we are just learning about this now, the military has probably had it for a few years, remote controlled gnats or something similar. Good find.

Originally posted by Sigma
I thought this post was going to have a giant dubbie in it... my mistake.

...but seriously this is interesting technology, it not a little inhumane. This will help with many place and things too small for "conventional" robots.

A whole new spin on the term "Light up a roach".

In this case with the they are front ending a human interface to a bug. The big advantage is, you can tell the roach where to get crap to eat (cheap fuel) anywhere there is a source of water and any decaying wood or vegatable mater you can charge his/her cells. Then take advantage of a very efficient energy to weight ratio bio-machine.

Crawl-On

Originally posted by Simulacra
Anyone remember the scene on the fifth element where the remote controlled roach spies on the president? It's nice to see technology catching up with Hollywood. Now if we can just have flying cars, hover boards, and self-cleaning coats my life will be fulfilled.

They invented a self cleaning coating for clothing. Nano technology is kick-ass.

Arent there REAL hover boards i remember seeing one somewhere...

i always enjoy these articles, reading about how 'the possibilities are immense.' not to knock the possibilities, truly, they are amazing, but, as is being hinted at above, there is a certain 'cool' to it as well.

imagine how awesome it would be to control roaches like that. really, itd be just awesome. pure unscientific, childish awesomeness. theres a certain driving force inherent in that, as well as the 'because i can' aspect.

Originally posted by Sigma
I thought this post was going to have a giant dubbie in it... my mistake.:

Same here, I too thought that I was going to see a huge, baseball sized cockroach.

Great post.

I don't want one of those circling around house.

Surf