A cyborg cockroach with a video camera is being created in MAI
In the student design bureau "Signal", which is part of the MAI structure, a cyborg cockroach is being created, which will allow video shooting in places that are difficult for humans and technology to reach, and it will be possible to control it using electrical impulses from an attached neurostimulator.
The size of this neurostimulator, which will be mounted on large cockroach species with a trunk length of about 6 cm, will not exceed 2 by 3 cm. By sending signals to the device, you can control the insect by indicating the direction and turns, and in the future it is planned to add start and stop commands. The peculiarity of the structure of cockroaches is that their nerve endings are located very close to the shell, and this allowed MAI specialists to place a pair of electrodes connected to a neurostimulator on the shell itself. After receiving a signal via Bluetooth, the device supplies electrical impulses to the electrodes that act on the insect's nerve endings and control its movements.
A cyborg cockroach with a video camera is being created in MAI
As noted in MAI, the project to create a cyborg cockroach will allow scientists to advance in the study of the biology of the nervous system of cockroaches, and the results obtained can be useful to companies and organizations where it is required to conduct video filming in hard—to-reach places - checking pipelines, archaeological research, studying cavities in destroyed buildings, etc. a new and not advanced development and similar cyborg cockroaches have been presented more than once by foreign and Russian researchers, but, apparently, they have not found their large-scale application.
Max Antonov