Researchers from North Carolina State University are currently using the technology used in video games to remotely control cockroaches on auto pilot.
The world of technology is constantly evolving. In one such new development, researchers from North Carolina State University are currently using the technology used in video games to remotely control cockroaches on auto pilot. The scientists used a computer to steer the insect in a controlled environment. The objective of this study is to see how the insect reacts to remote controls and if possible use cockroaches to map dynamic environments like building collapses.
The system has been created by using Microsoft's motion-sensing Kinect system, used in their video game consoles. The motion-sensing system has been embedded into an electronic interface developed at NC State.
For the experiment cockroaches were put on a digitally plotted path and researchers then tracked and identified the insect's progress. The program then used the Kinect tracking data to automatically steer the roach along the desired path. After determining how these cockroaches respond to the electrical impulses from the remote-control interface, researchers can make required adjustments to the steering parameters so as to control the insect more accurately.
"Our goal is to be able to guide these roaches as efficiently as possible, and our work with Kinect is helping us do that," says Dr. Alper Bozkurt, an assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at NC State and co-author of a paper on the work. "We want to build on this program, incorporating mapping and radio frequency techniques that will allow us to use a small group of cockroaches to explore and map disaster sites. The autopilot program would control the roaches, sending them on the most efficient routes to provide rescuers with a comprehensive view of the situation."
Bozkurt reveals that sound detectors like microphones could also be attached to these cockroaches so that survivors in collapsed buildings can be tracked. He says microphones can be attached too so that rescue teams can communicate with survivors.
The paper, "Kinect-based System for Automated Control of Terrestrial Insect Biobots," will be presented at the Remote Controlled Insect Biobots Minisymposium at the 35th Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society July 4 in Osaka, Japan.
