Cockroaches scuttling around with microphone backpacks
sound pretty weird, but their ability to inch their way into tiny
nooks and crannies makes them the ideal rescue squad.

Over the past few years, scientists have started making remote-
controlled cyborg insects that could serve as secret spies performing
a range of missions, from mapping unknown environments to
providing surveillance. Scientists have now found yet another use for
cyborg insects - cockroaches with microphone backpacks that could
save your life.

A team of researchers from North Carolina State University in the US
has managed to implant tiny microphones in cyborg cockroaches
that allow them to trace the source of sounds. Presenting their
research at the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Sensors conference in Spain this week, the team said sound is one
of the best ways to locate people who are in trouble.

Each cyborg cockroach is fitted with an electronic backpack that's
wired into its nervous system, which allows its movements to be
controlled remotely. The backpack is also equipped with one of two
types of microphones - either a single microphone that detects high-
resolution sound from any direction, or an array of three directional
microphones that can detect where the sound is coming from. The
sounds are sent back to the cockroach command centre - a system
which analyses the location of the sound and steers the cockroach in
that direction.

“The goal is to use the biobots with high-resolution microphones to
differentiate between sounds that matter – like people calling for help
– from sounds that don’t matter – like a leaking pipe,” said Alper
Bozkurt, electrical engineer and one of the team, in a press release.
“Once we’ve identified sounds that matter, we can use the biobots
equipped with microphone arrays to zero in on where those sounds
are coming from.”

We know what you're thinking, but don’t worry - these cyborg
cockroaches won’t be wandering off and accidentally ending up on
your kitchen floor any time soon. In an earlier study, the team
designed an invisible fence to keep the cockroaches confined to the
disaster site. The invisible fence places an electrical stimulus at a
boundary to guide the cockroaches back to the site. Not only does
this prevent them from slacking off on the job, it also allows them to
work as a team by creating a reliable mobile wireless network.

The team is now working on fine-tuning the microphone so that it can
accurately pick up sounds that are further away.

So next time you try to squash a cockroach, remember that it has
potential to rescue you from a burning building.

[img]www.sciencealert.com/images/articles/cockroach_480.jpg[/img]

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