Roach Control – Roachbots To The Rescue

People hate cockroaches. They are repulsive little creatures that deserve to die! Hold on there just a second partner! What if they could help us save lives and aid us in search and rescue missions?

Anyone who’s seen a cockroach has the same opinion about one: they’re repulsive little creatures that deserve to die! Hold on just a second people! What if they could help us save lives and aid us in search and rescue missions? Maybe you’d have some sympathy for these greasy bastards. Call it unusually cruel, call it genius, electrical engineers at North Carolina State University have wired up a pair of cockroaches with remote controlled battery packs. They hope to one day use them for search and rescue missions.

Roachbots To The Rescue

Electrical impulses are sent to a battery pack mounted to the roaches backs. The signal is sent to the roaches antennae triggering a response in directional movement. Roaches act sort of like a horse when receiving directional input from either their left or right side. Sending electronic stimulation to one side will cause the roach to move in an opposite direction. In doing so, engineers hope to one day outfit roaches with directional input devices as to send them into tiny crevices where typical rescue workers can’t go. Hypothetically speaking, if a person were to be buried under a fallen building in the wake of an earthquake, a Roachbot would locate them and send the data back to rescue workers. Sound far fetched? Maybe just a little; and what ever happened to using a German Shepard to sniff out a victim? Check out the video below featuring Roachbots in action:

Aren’t Search & Rescue Dogs Good Enough?

To the discerning professional dedicated to robotic research, these little Roachbots may seem like a triumphant breakthrough. Yet to some of us, the idea of outfitting a defenseless insect with a battery pack only sending it shocks to manipulate its directional movement, is just plain cruel. What, have service dogs fallen out of fashion amongst the search and rescue crew? We think not, so the question remains, just how effective at search and rescue can a remote control cockroach be? Even though roaches are some of the most resilient creatures on earth, they certainly deserve a little more respect than that. We’re certain the robotics industry can come up with a non-organic creation, capable of a search and rescue missions without harming an insect. After all, roches aren’t the only creatures that know a thing or two about survival. Lets not sell ourselves short here. Let us know your thoughts.