A cockroach-inspired robot can handle complicated and bumpy terrain. It could be used for surveying earthquake rubble or even other planets.
The robot, called Omni-Roach, has a rounded body, wings that can open and close, curved legs and a tail that can move left and right, and up and down. It is around 20 centimetres long and 10 centimetres tall.
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at Johns Hopkins University in Maryland and his team tested the robot in an obstacle course that mimicked the forest floor. Tall beams bent like blades of stiff grass, horizontal bumps emulated fallen twigs and pillars stood in for small plants.
Manipulating Omni-Roach鈥檚 appendages all at once helped the robot successfully navigate the terrain. For instance, when it fell onto its back, the researchers could leverage the motion of its wings and tail to turn it right side up.
鈥淲hen it gets stuck, it can use more than one part to right itself,鈥� says Yaqing Wang, one of the team members, also at Johns Hopkins University. The robot鈥檚 design was inspired by discoid cockroaches, large insects native to tropical regions in Central America. Previous studies had shown how well the cockroaches are able to navigate their complex habitats.
The researchers presented Omni-Roach at the in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in May.
In the future, Wang and his colleagues want to add sensors to the robot to make it more autonomous. This could make Omni-Roach better suited for exploring rubble in the aftermath of earthquakes or tackling the rough and craggy surface of Mars, says Wang.
Weighing less than a kilogram, Omni-Roach is relatively light, and its combination of legs, wings and a tail may make it nimbler than existing rovers. 鈥淲e want to have a design that won鈥檛 get stuck on Mars easily,鈥� says Wang.
