Cockroaches : robot inspired to detect victims under rubble

US researchers have developed a small  Cockroaches robot that can access more quickly to earthquake victims.

And if the Cockroaches became the best friend of the rescuers? This insect multitalented largely inspired the construction of a prototype robot designed to search for people buried under the rubble, according to a US study published on Monday, February 8 in the reports of the American Academy of Sciences (in English).

Unlike current robots, cockroaches have a capacity unrivaled sneaking into tiny cracks, particularly flattening. In free space, these insects are about 3.7 cm high moving, but they can shrink their bodies up to one centimeter quarter of the thickness of two pieces of a penny.
Difficult to crush insects

Moreover, these insects can run on two legs at a speed of 1.5 meters per second, or browse fifty times their body length per second. Scientists have also found that cockroaches can bear on them a force equivalent to 900 times their weight without injury.

Inspired by their techniques, the researchers designed a small, simple and inexpensive robot that fits in the palm of the hand. It is able to unfold its legs when it crashed and protect with a plastic screen, just as solid and smooth as wings covering the backs of cockroaches. Dubbed CRAM (Compressible robot with articulated Mechanisms), the robot was able to squeeze through cracks and run in half of its height spaces.

“Insects are the most talented animals”

“In an earthquake, rescuers need to know if the scree are stable and safe, but the robots currently used can not enter under the rubble, reports Robert Full, professor of biology at the University of California at Berkeley. S ‘there are a lot of cracks and pipes, we can imagine sending a group of these robots to locate survivors and safe entry points for the rescuers. “

“Insects are the most talented animals” to survive, “because they can access almost anywhere and we should therefore inspire us to build robots replicating those capabilities,” he says.

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