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Robotics Hardware Hacking Toys Input Devices Science

Cockroach-Controlled Robot 157

Posted by timothy from the no-*you*-do-it-yourself dept.
robotsrule writes "The latest issue of Make Magazine volume 2 from O'Reilly publishing has an article on a cockroach controlled robot. Roboticist Garnet Hertz has mounted a Giant Madagascan Hissing Cockroach that drives a small mobile robot around by walking on top of a Kensington trackball. There is a row of proximity sensor triggered LEDs that shine light in the roach's eyes, making him steer the robot since roaches instinctively avoid light. Garnet's web page 'Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine' details the project with several images of the roach in action. Debugging the project is inherently impossible."
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Cockroach-Controlled Robot More

Cockroach-Controlled Robot

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  • She? (Score:4, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 21, 2005 @03:48PM (#12600467)
    It's ambiguous whether the system is controlling the insect or whether she's controlling it.

    I, for one, welcome our enslaved, robot-controlling females.

  • Debugging impossible? (Score:5, Funny)

    by NoseBag ( 243097 ) on Saturday May 21, 2005 @03:49PM (#12600471)
    Debugging the project is inherently impossible.

    They are obviously not using RAID.

  • Uh... (Score:2, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward
    If this isn't a Rube Goldberg contraption, I don't know what is.

    It's very cool, but odd. I mean, seriously: shine a light in a certain way to make a Giant Hissing cockroach move in a certain direction, which then moves the robot?

    I assume there are simpler ways of directing robots.

    • Re:Uh... (Score:5, Interesting)

      by ghjm ( 8918 ) on Saturday May 21, 2005 @09:41PM (#12602488) Homepage
      What's interesting about this is the way it combines biological and machine intelligence. Cockroaches (at least the kind we get here; I've never seen a Giant Madagascar Hissing Cockroach -for which, I heartily thank whatever power there may be) have a fairly complex pattern of behavior; they "understand" finding food, running away from predators, locating good places to hide and live, etc, etc. These behaviors are not easy to model using machine intelligence; at least, not in a way that works in the real world.

      Imagine if you could program a cockroach. You have chemical and optical receptors, and the ability to move individual legs and appendages. You have to be able to do things like "go forward" and "eat this object," both of which are quite complex in practice. You also have to answer questions like "is it food" or "is it scary." And you need an overriding program that prioritizes the various items in your environment and decides, at each moment, what you should do next. How many lines of C code do you think this would take? How do you suppose any given program might fare in the real world, competing for resources (and trying to avoid being eaten or stepped on) alongside real cockroaches?

      So what if it turns out that real cockroaches are way ahead of the state of the art in machine intelligence - but you find cockroach behavior useful in some potential system? Instead of waiting for AI research to catch up to the cockroach, why not just put a cockroach in the driver's seat and let it run the robot. Treat it as a "black box" heuristic machine. Use machine intelligence only to constrain its behavior.

      As to shining a light on the cockroach to get it to run a particular direction, you have to ask: Why not just turn refuse to obey the cockroach's commands if you are going "the wrong way" according to the machine intelligence? I don't know the answer, but I didn't have to face the task of actually building the thing. However, I would imagine it is much simpler to turn LEDs on and off than to get involved in the mechanics of how the legs work.

      If you can figure out how cockroaches (or some other control animal) identifies friend and foe, how they focus on a particular target, and what their attack behaviors are, it's entirely plausible that you could use this in a military application. Imagine armored, landscape-destroying robots with giant laser weapons; piloted, perhaps, by kittens. I'm sure this is where the research will inevitably lead.

      -Graham
      • Why not just turn refuse to obey the cockroach's commands if you are going "the wrong way"

        The concept of "the wrong way" is a high level one right up there with "is it scary". The point of this project (as you pretty much described) is to harness the roaches intelligence so a computer program doesn't have to tackle such difficult concepts. I'd imagine the lights are just a quick way to send information to the roach, allowing it to run around in a virtual environment, or connect it to some remotely oper

      • piloted, perhaps, by kittens. reminds me of the Rat Things in Snow Crash.
        • > piloted, perhaps, by kittens

          In the series of the film Terminator, they had to reinvent history in order to account for the fact that human civilisation wasn't actually destroyed in 1997.

          I just have this vision of homocidal Terminator deathmachines being controlled by hamsters sucking on tubes.
      • piloted, perhaps, by kittens.

        I suppose that would make fapping in a time of war an act of treason...

  • New proof (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 21, 2005 @03:52PM (#12600497)
    This research also proved that the roach controlled robot drove better than 86 percent of Southern Californian motorists. Maybe we should all have roaches as chauffeurs.
    • Forget outsourcing to India ... cockroaches are where it's at.

      Sure, the quality of tech support will go down, but think of the cost savings!

  • hmm... (Score:5, Funny)

    by bnitsua ( 72438 ) on Saturday May 21, 2005 @03:54PM (#12600510)
    how kafkaesque.

  • The soldier of the future? (Score:5, Funny)

    by Datamonstar ( 845886 ) on Saturday May 21, 2005 @03:55PM (#12600513)
    Make the structure out of Titanium and give it some nukes... Indestructable weapon of the future!
    • From the site:
      Are there other similar scientific projects funded by the military?
      Yes. A large majority of hybrid insect/robot systems are funded by DARPA - the American Department of Defence's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). In a survey of published cockroach/robot research within America, I was unable to find a lab that was not funded in some way by DARPA.

      Hmm indeed.

  • Let's put them to work! (Score:5, Funny)

    by DanCentury ( 110562 ) on Saturday May 21, 2005 @03:56PM (#12600516)
    They're already in the kitchen -- let's hook them up to the blender and Cuisinart.

  • Eventually..... (Score:5, Funny)

    by Misanthrope ( 49269 ) on Saturday May 21, 2005 @03:56PM (#12600517)
    Eventually they'll have to switch to lawyers, there are some things even roaches won't do.

  • Yikes (Score:3, Funny)

    by sabernet ( 751826 ) on Saturday May 21, 2005 @03:58PM (#12600531) Homepage
    Frankly, I don't care if this wields scientific data. It's just the most evil villain-esque thing I can think of. ...cool!!!:)

  • AKA (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Ann Elk ( 668880 ) on Saturday May 21, 2005 @04:00PM (#12600546)

    The Matrix, version 0.1 proof-of-concept

  • Next... (Score:2, Funny)

    by Bazman ( 4849 )
    His next project is sharks with frickin' laser beams on their heads....

  • I can't wait to hear the crunching [corky.net] sound...

  • On being a roach (Score:5, Funny)

    by macmurph ( 622189 ) on Saturday May 21, 2005 @04:03PM (#12600564)
    If I suddenly found myself in madagascar with a huge piece of velcro on my back, headlights blinking into my eyes, a ball beneath my feet... I would try and run like hell too.
  • I'm SURE I saw a B-rated horror flick about this.

  • "Affirmation or rejection of posthuman theory" (Score:1, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    From the webpage:

    This animal-controlled system is also meant to be framed within the context of embodiment, intelligence, hybridity and posthumanism. While posthumanism tends to view humanity's self-reflective reference point as significantly shifted as a result of technology, this project can be viewed as affirmation or rejection of posthuman theory; either human and computational logic can be replaced with the rugged, viseral, and adaptive logic of the cockroach, or the cockroach can be viewed as the ul
  • People for the ethical treatment of insects I am outraged and appaled at the blatant torture of these living creatures. Who else will stand up for the rights of the roach!!! The measure of society should be how we treat our insects roaches make wonderful pets and should not be treated in such a manner.
  • How long will it be before cockroaches figure out how to create a human controlled robot? Of course, we are really screwed if the cockroaches are the steel-plated, steel-eating ones from Damnation Alley.

  • PETA (Score:4, Funny)

    by $exyNerdie ( 683214 ) on Saturday May 21, 2005 @04:16PM (#12600641) Homepage Journal

    I am calling PETA [peta.org] for this 'incockroachane' treatment of the cockroach.

  • One-Liners (Score:2, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    PETA leaders spontaneously combust debating whether this isn't ethical treatment of roaches or if this empowers roaches to actualize their inner selves.

    Microsoft execs are kicking themselves for not having implemented hardware bugs quite like this one...and promises to innovate accordingly.

    Roaches are fastened to the machine using a patented spring-based tweezer-like system called a roach clip.

    Military recruitment at an all-time high when kids are told that in basic training, they can smoke a roach.

  • Deus Ex (Score:2, Insightful)

    by mattjb0010 ( 724744 )
    Gromphadorhina portentosa, deus ex machina.

  • had a similar idea many years ago (Score:5, Funny)

    by DaFrogg ( 867427 ) on Saturday May 21, 2005 @04:24PM (#12600673)
    I had an idea for roaches as controllers years ago, but everyone said I was nuts. If I had just ignored my stoner friends, I could have been a pioneer! OK, so I wanted them guiding little rockets, but still...
    • "OK, so I wanted them guiding little rockets, but still..."

      I tried something similar in the early 80's with snails (because they're easier to catch than cockroaches). However, tests quickly proved that snails don't have fast enough reaction times to effectively steer a D-6-0 powered rocket, although on the plus side the 'chute ejection charge would shoot the "pilot" an extra 50 meters or so.

      You live, you learn, you find something else to blow up in the name of science...

  • At least we can stop them. (Score:3, Funny)

    by The_Minkis ( 885627 ) on Saturday May 21, 2005 @04:24PM (#12600674)
    When the robots revolt all we have to do is turn on a light and watch them run for cover.
  • Mark Pauline and Survival Research Laboratories did this with a hamster YEARS ago. And it was a BIG fricking robot!

  • I'm guessing PETA hasn't seen these photos (Score:4, Funny)

    by MonkeyOfRage ( 779297 ) on Saturday May 21, 2005 @04:28PM (#12600692)
    Great. After nuclear armageddon, the roaches will be free to tool around on the little Segways we made for them. The legacy of man.

  • Why control the cockroach? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by JThundley ( 631154 ) on Saturday May 21, 2005 @04:28PM (#12600693)
    So let me get this straight; humans are controlling a cockroach that is controlling a robot? If they're going to tell the cockroach to turn left, why not just do it directly? It seems the cooler thing to do would be to let the cockroach bump around on his own will.
    • So let me get this straight; humans are controlling a cockroach that is controlling a robot? If they're going to tell the cockroach to turn left, why not just do it directly?

      Don't you see? The LEDs telling the roach which way to go are controlled by another cockroach.

    • Well if the robot's proximity sensors direct the light, you basically have a cockroach signal processor, which may or may not have quicker refelexes than some sort of threshold matching algorithm.
    • So let me get this straight; humans are controlling a cockroach that is controlling a robot?

      Hmm. Perhaps you missed something. There is no human input anywhere in the system. The lights are wired directly to proximity sensors, so the light will come on if the roach drives close to a wall or something. That tends to keep it out in the open where it can roam around on its own will.

      It's a lot more like a insect driving a car than controlling a robot.

  • I learned how cockroaches were naturals for running machines from the movie Godzilla vs Gigan [monsterzero.us].

  • It's already been done (Score:1, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    A roach-controlled robotic cyborg has already been created by one couple, George H.W. Bush and spouse, Barbara.
  • Cockroach smashes you!

  • frome the same page, CV [conceptlab.com] (bottom of page, Technical Skills) "...Knowledge of networking, including Unix system administration, routers, DNS servers, mail servers, FTP servers, Linux. Insect schizoanalysis...."

  • How do you... (Score:3, Funny)

    by catdevnull ( 531283 ) on Saturday May 21, 2005 @04:41PM (#12600748)
    ...debug that one?

    I welcome our new insect overlords.

    Hey! Don't mod me down. I mean, how can my comment be any worse than an article about roach-operated robotics? :)

  • Perhaps more interesting? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Dachannien ( 617929 ) on Saturday May 21, 2005 @04:44PM (#12600765)
    These folks [caltech.edu] have constructed a fly flight simulator, where they tether a fly in front of a set of lights that form a low-resolution view of a simulated environment. They then measure the torques produced by the fly and use that data to manipulate the environment simulation, so that the fly sees its environment moving about it even though it's tethered in place. They can use this to study the behavioral responses of flies to various stimuli (like a rapidly-approaching light or dark spot simulating a fly-swatter, to examine escape response).

    I guess I would be more impressed if instead of having the cockroach walk on a trackball, they used cockroach EMG to control the robot.

  • Geeks' Love Lives (Score:1, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Roboticist Garnet Hertz has mounted a Giant Madagascan Hissing Cockroach...

    Geez, and I thought I was desperate!

  • They will do a better 'hearts and minds' job than the grunts they have now!

  • I will be impressed when he announces that he has invented the five assed monkey.

  • Cruelty to animals (Score:3, Informative)

    by BobPaul ( 710574 ) * on Saturday May 21, 2005 @05:08PM (#12600885) Journal
    Isn't it cruel to use a cockroach like this?

    [snip] The insects I use lead normal, healthy lives: if you don't believe me, send me your address and I'll slip some eggs under your front door.
    --
    Don't fight Firefox! Let FireFox fight YOU! [bobpaul.org]
  • They say cockroaches are one of the only things that survive a nuclear catastrophe. Equipping them with robots would be awesome to see after they're the only things left running around. It would be a giant game of bumper-robots on a big pile of debris. Awesome.

    Too bad we'd be dead, so we wouldn't actually get to see it...

  • Nothing new here (Score:3, Funny)

    by xs650 ( 741277 ) on Saturday May 21, 2005 @05:44PM (#12601056)
    They've been driving taxi cabs for decades.
  • what the hell is the point of this, anyway? I see no usefulness in it, just some losers playing with bugs.

    You steer the cockroach by shining light in its eyes, which makes the cockroach move one way or another on the pingpong ball... so... why is the cockroach there at all? And not just control the robot directly. This just adds an extra step in the process which makes the system less reliable.

    This is stupid tech.
  • Ok, can we get a vote on whether this paragraph from the article is intended to be taken seriously or not?

    This animal-controlled system is also meant to be framed within the context of embodiment, intelligence, hybridity and posthumanism. While posthumanism tends to view humanity's self-reflective reference point as significantly shifted as a result of technology, this project can be viewed as affirmation or rejection of posthuman theory; either human and computational logic can be replaced with the rugg

    • Yeah, and in the Why are you doing this project section :
      • I became tired of hearing the term "posthuman" within a critical theory / philosophical context. As a reaction, I thought that a cockroach makes a better posthuman than Fukyamama, Stock or Hayles envisions: in a literal sense, it's a robust system that will likely outlast nuclear war, computers, and the human species.

      If that's somebody's real name, I pity the fool!

    • No (Score:1)

      by Tharkban ( 877186 )
      I Vote no. Not to be taken seriously.

      I started smiling by the second sentence.
  • I was going to make a "I, for one, welcome our new Cockroach overlords" joke as is obligatory in every /. thread. I go to -1 to do a search if somebody had done the joke.

    There were 7 posts saying the exact same joke. 7 idential jokes, guys! Seriously, this is not cool. Do a search at -1 before you make the joke. Redundancy is not cool.
  • I was just thinking about this today. I remembered a while back someone had done this before. It popped in my mind today and I was wondering if any progress was made on it. I get home and see this. scary
  • I think this could revolutionize fear factor... combine the hissing cockroach challenges with the driving stunts... I can just hear Joe Rogan, "the hissing cockroach will then drive directly into your mouth!"
  • Nobody's welcoming our new cockroach overlords?
  • welcome our giant cockroach-controlled robot overlords.

    Sorry, this one just had to be said...

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