This beetle-computer hybrid is controlled by humans

31 Mar 2016
Nanyang Technological University

A living beetle-computer hybrid with legs that can be fully controlled by humans has been created by researchers in Singapore.

A paper published in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface compares the living beetle-computer hybrid with man-made robots, concluding that insects are "nature's ready-made robot platforms."

The beetle joins a long list of insects that have been turned into robots; its predecessors include hawkmoths, and cockroaches. None of those insects, however, had their walking speed, step frequency and gait fully controlled by humans, making the beetle-bot the first of its kind.

Researchers ran electrodes into leg muscles in the beetle's first pair of legs and then stimulated movement by running currents through each in a specific sequence. The giant flower beetle (Mecynorrhina torquata) was then controlled via a radio device mounted onto the insect.

The researchers from Nanyang Technological University in Singapore tracked the beetle's normal motion with a 3D motion-capturing system and then programmed sequences to generate different walking gaits. They were able to make the beetle 'gallop' and then walk with a 'tripod' gait.

Nanyang Technological University

The hybrid might prove a useful step towards building robots for use in disaster zones, where they could be equipped with cameras or microphones and navigated through tiny cracks to search for humans trapped under rubble. Because the beetle is still alive, humans would be able to switch from controlling the beetle to letting it navigate on its own: "When the insect–computer hybrid robot encounters an obstacle, the user can simply switch off the controller, allowing the intrinsic neural control networks of the robot to overcome or avoid the obstacle."

The authors of the paper also pointed out that the hybrid beetle would consume hundreds of times less power than a man-made robot. They theorised that later versions might be self-powered by "energy harvesters embedded in the living insect platform." Even state-of-art robots "cannot compete with living insect locomotion," they wrote. However animal rights activists have criticised the development of robotic-insect hybrids, arguing that there is evidence the creatures can experience pain.