Cyborg Beetles to the Rescue

Designing extremely small robots that can move with precision, or do much of anything else useful, is still a major challenge, even with today’s best technologies. The actuators, processors, sensors, and mechanical components needed to build an insect-scale robot can only be scaled down just so much. Real insects, on the other hand, are far more capable and energy-efficient than any miniature robot, despite their diminutive sizes. Our inability to match nature in this area is holding back some very important applications of robots, such as in search and rescue operations.

A group led by researchers at The University of Queensland recognized that while we might be outclassed, by working with what we do have, we might be able to accomplish our goals just the same. To get the incredible climbing abilities of an insect without having to design the tiny hardware to do it, they created cyborg beetles. It may seem closer to science fiction than reality, but the team has shown that their approach makes it possible to direct the actions of darkling beetles with a video game controller.

This is made possible by fitting each beetle with a tiny backpack. Contained within each backpack is a Microchip ATtiny85V microcontroller and an infrared receiver. The infrared receiver is used to wirelessly capture commands sent to the cyborg beetle via a gamepad. Electrodes, controlled by the microcontroller’s GPIO pins, are attached to the insect’s antennae and forewings. When these areas are stimulated electrically, it causes the beetles to respond by moving in predictable ways.

By selectively pulsing the electrodes, the researchers can cause the beetle to turn left or right, accelerate forward, or stop altogether. Stimulating just one of the beetle’s hardened wing covers induces a sideways scuttle that presses the insect’s body against nearby surfaces. That simple reflex is enough to coax the creature from a flat floor onto a vertical wall, which is a maneuver that even the most advanced miniature robots have trouble with. In a series of carefully controlled lab trials, operators demonstrated that they could guide beetles along zig‑zag courses and then up a sheet of acrylic using nothing more than a handheld gamepad.

In further tests, the cyborg beetles sprinted over five‑ and eight‑millimeter steps with a success rate above 92%. They were almost as reliable in completing floor‑to‑wall transitions, where their success rate hovered around 71%. To date, the experiments have used a thin tether to supply power during extended sessions, but earlier trials proved the insects can perform the same feats when carrying a battery cell that is roughly equal to their own body weight.

The team noted that their next goal is to slip a postage stamp‑sized camera into the backpack so that rescuers can see what the beetle sees as it threads through piles of rubble in disaster zones. With a few upgrades to the electronics and additional autonomy, the team hopes to test swarms of these living probes at a real disaster site within five years. If successful, first responders might be able to locate trapped survivors in hours instead of days.