Calmbots, the Cyborg Cockroaches That Can Perform Small Household Tasks

This sounds like the stuff of (older) sci-fi movies, but it could very well be the future. Once you get past the fact that these are cockroaches, modified and more or less tormented into doing man’s bidding. Needless to say, the ethics of the project is being called into question in the online realm, at the same time as people are cracking obvious jokes.

The Digital Nature Group department at the University of Tsukuba modified Madagascar roaches either with cybernetic implants or by gluing components to them, making them remote-controlled through electrical stimulation. They call them “Calmbots” and say they could, in the future, “appear out of nowhere without us recognizing it, fulfilling their tasks and then hiding.”

Such tasks include moving around / transporting small objects, probably fixing stuff, drawing or even acting an input or haptic interfaces or audio devices, thanks to the pixel strapped to their back, acting as a display. The Madagascar cockroach was chosen for this project because of its size, ability to hide, strength, and capabilities of mobilization and self-maintenance.

Using these Calmbots would have several advantages, including the ability to use them in areas more difficult to access, across walls, floors with cables, and the likes. Researchers also applied the rule of working ants to ensure a task was completed, even when certain cockroaches went rogue or made too many errors, by having substitute Calmbots taking over.

The video below sums up the findings of the study, including the fact that researchers are hopeful it will prompt future applications in the real world. Ethics aside, this is quite an important achievement.