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Robot Cockroaches (For Real)

Posted on 9 February 2016 by The Tactical Hermit

OK, I am giving away my age, but do any of you guys remember the Tom Selleck and Gene Simmons movie Runaway from 1984? OK, before you read this article, watch this clip below… I think it is hilarious to see how people over 30 years ago saw the future and actually nailed it in some respects! -SF

https://youtu.be/r15ZpOIHxYA

defense-large (1)

Biologically inspired robot bugs could be the next big thing in intelligence collection.

Researchers from Berkeley today announced the creation of a robot cockroach, called the compressible robot with articulated mechanisms, or CRAM, funded in part by the Army Research Laboratory under the Micro Autonomous System and Technology or MAST, program.

Why does the military need roboroaches? Put aside your feelings of revulsion toward periplaneta americanaand consider for a moment the design miracle that is the American cockroach. Ever seen a cockroach scurry from the light into an incredibly tight crevice? The American cockroach is about stands 12.52 mm tall but can squeeze itself down to as small as 3 mm in height, about two stacked pennies, when it has to find cover. That shape change doesn’t even slow the bug down when it runs.

The Berkeley creation is larger, about palm-sized, but still possess this unique, shape-shifting trait. “Like the animal, the robot successfully locomotes in vertically confined spaces by compressing its body in half (54%; 75–35 mm) and benefits from possessing a low friction shell,” the authors write in their paper, which appeared in the Proceedings of the National Academies of Science today. “We have been able to make our palm-sized, confined-space crawling robot completely autonomous in power and control, while weighing just 46 g including onboard electronics and battery.”

CRAM it isn’t the military’s first foray into robotic or semi-robotic insects. The robot fly funded by Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA, in the video below weighs just 60 milligrams and stands at 3 centimeters tall. But steering remains a real issue.

Read the Remainder and See Other Video Clips at Defense One

 

3 thoughts on “Robot Cockroaches (For Real)”

  1. PARTNERING WITH EAGLES says:
    9 February 2016 at 19:04

    Yes I remember that film. check out the video here, (scroll down) involves control of insects
    https://partneringwitheagles.wordpress.com/2012/07/18/how-close-are-we-to-a-nano-based-surveillance-state/

  2. Hammerhead says:
    9 February 2016 at 19:56

    Yeah Tom Selleck has had some good movies…my most recent favorite is IKE: Countdown to D-Day. He really portrayed Ike well, plus the rest of the cast was spot on…sorry I am WW2 History buff.

  3. PARTNERING WITH EAGLES says:
    9 February 2016 at 21:27

    Sorry? Visit Profiles In Courage. Links are on my page!

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