Russian scientists and engineers from the Federal University of the Baltic Immanuel Kant have developed a robot that is 10 cm long and weighs almost 10 grams. Able to move at the speed of 30 centimeters per second and currently with an autonomy of 20 minutes, this robot has the appearance of a cockroach.
It was the specifications for this miniature robot which must imitate the cockroach as well as possible. The choice fell on the Blaberus Giganteus which is one of the largest cockroaches in the world found in the forests of South America.
The Russian cockroach robot is equipped with light sensors and probes to be able to move without bumping into obstacles. It can be controlled remotely from a smartphone and can carry a payload of 10 grams, which should be enough to equip it with a small camera.
He could help in rescue missions and to penetrate difficult to access areas. The Russian military has already expressed interest in the project and in a version with camouflage colors. The robot cockroach could also be a little spy…
The idea of ​​a cockroach-type robot is not new and researchers from the University of California at Berkeley have for example already worked on it with their VelociRoACH. In charge of the project, Aleksey Belousov ensures that it had to start from scratch and that the problem was not the same.
According to remarks reported by Russia Today, he underlines that it was necessary to respect a given time and a budget, and especially to make that the robot looks and acts like an existing cockroach. " Their robot (note: from the University of Berkeley) is faster than ours, but it cannot turn quickly and does not look like a real cockroach at all. "
Without speaking of robot, let us also recall the work on bionic cockroaches and to control cockroaches remotely by equipping them with a chip.
