The indestructible cockroach turns into a "cyborg cockroach"? Please allow me to respectfully call him Brother Qiang

Cockroaches, commonly known as "xiaoqiang", are a kind of strange creatures that everyone hates and wants to get rid of as soon as possible.

Why is it so strange? Because cockroaches have extremely strong vitality and reproductive capacity, and have an evolutionary history of hundreds of millions of years. Under the attack of countless "drag children" by humans, they can still survive tenaciously.

Figure | Cockroaches in Baltic amber are at least 40 to 50 million years old. (Source: Wikipedia)

According to modern biological taxonomy, there are more than 4,000 species of cockroaches on the earth, of which only dozens will invade human homes, a few will be kept as pets by humans , and the vast majority of species can only be found in wild mountain streams, forests or insect museums.

Among the most common domestic cockroaches, the American cockroach (Periplaneta americana), Australian cockroach (Periplaneta australasiae) and short-winged cockroach (Neostylopyga rhombifolia) are larger, about 2-4 cm in length; the German cockroach (Blattella germanica), Japanese cockroach (Blattella bisignata) and Asian cockroach (Blattella asahinai) are smaller, about 1-2 cm in length.

**Generally speaking, cockroaches in tropical regions are larger, reaching up to 10 cm in length,** such as the Oriental cockroach (Blatta orientalis).

However, the tiny cockroach can also be used in big ways, such as being deployed in search and rescue missions or to investigate more dangerous places.

The need for remote control and long battery life has always been an unresolved problem . Now, this idea may be about to become a reality.

Recently, a research team from the Cluster for pioneer Research (CPR) of the RIKEN Institute of Physical and Chemical Research and its collaborators designed a system that can create remote-controlled cyborg cockroaches.

Figure｜Cyborg cockroach. (Source: The paper)

As shown in the picture above, isn’t it very technological ? **

It is reported that the system is equipped with a miniature wireless control module that can be charged by solar energy , which can achieve self-powering, and the ultra-thin electronic devices and flexible materials can enable the cyborg cockroach to move freely.

The research team believes that the advent of cyborg cockroaches may make it possible to use cyborg insects in real life.

The related research, titled "Integration of body-mounted ultrasoft organic solar cell on cyborg insects with intact mobility", has been published in the scientific journal npj Flexible Electronics.

(Source: npj Flexible Electronics)

Cyborg insects have long been thought to be useful for monitoring dangerous areas or the surrounding environment, but to make this idea a reality, they need to be able to be remotely controlled for long periods of time. That is, operators can wirelessly control the legs of cyborg insects and use solar energy to power them for long periods of time.

However, it is not easy to realize the above functions.

To integrate these devices into the limited surface area of ​​the cockroach , the research team needed to develop a special "backpack", an ultra-thin organic solar cell component, and an adhesion system that allows the cyborg cockroach to move freely.

In this work, the research team used Madagascar cockroaches, which are about 6 cm long , as experimental subjects, and used a specially designed cockroach model backpack to connect the wireless leg control components and lithium polymer batteries to the top of the insect's thorax.

Figure ｜ Schematic diagram of a cyborg cockroach. (Source: the paper)

According to the paper, the backpack is 3D printed from an elastic polymer that perfectly fits the cockroach's "body shape" and can be fixed on the cockroach's chest for more than a month **.

In addition, the ultra-thin organic solar cell module is only 0.004 mm thick and is installed on the dorsal side of the cockroach's abdomen. Its output power is 17.2 milliwatts, which is more than 50 times greater than the output power of the most advanced insect energy harvesting device currently available.

Figure｜Charging. (Source: npj Flexible Electronics)

Ultra-thin, flexible organic solar cells, and the way they are attached, can ensure that the cyborg cockroach can move freely for a long time.

Figure｜After charging. (Source of animated image: npj Flexible Electronics)

After carefully examining the cockroach's natural movements, the team found that the cockroach's abdomen changes shape and parts of the exoskeleton overlap. To accommodate this, they used both sticky and non-stick materials to allow the solar cell to bend while remaining attached.

Figure｜Cyborg cockroaches crossing obstacles. (Source of animated image: npj Flexible Electronics)

When thicker solar cell films were tested, or when the films were evenly applied to the cockroaches' abdomens, the roaches took twice as long to run the same distance and had difficulty turning over , potentially causing them to fail in search and rescue missions.

Figure | A cyborg cockroach that can't turn over. (Source: npj Flexible Electronics)

At the end of the paper, the research team also stated, "Since abdominal deformation is not unique to cockroaches, our strategy can be adapted to other insects such as beetles, and may even be used in flying insects such as cicadas in the future. "

After reading this, why not put away your “drag”.

Reference Links:

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41528-022-00207-2