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Roboroach betrays real cockroaches

A matchbox-sized robot that can infiltrate a pack of cockroaches and influence their collective behaviour has been developed by European scientists.

The tiny robot smells and acts just like a roach, fooling the real insects into accepting it as one of their own. Through its behaviour, the robot can persuade a group of cockroaches to venture out into the light despite their normal preference for the dark, for example.

The researchers behind the robot believe it could be used to catch cockroaches and that bots designed to mimic other animals could one day work on farms controlling flocks of sheep and chickens by similar means.

Cockroaches and other insects such as ants display "collective intelligence". This means that complex group behaviour emerges from simple individual action and interaction. Researchers from France, Belgium and Switzerland set out to create a robot capable of controlling a group of cockroaches by exploiting this emergent behaviour.



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