## Freaky ‘Assembly Line’ Cranks Out Cyborg Cockroaches in Just Over a Minute **Report Provider:** New Atlas **Author:** Nanyang Technological University **Publication Date:** August 12, 2025 This news report details a significant advancement in the creation of insect-based cyborgs, specifically focusing on an automated "assembly line" developed at Nanyang Technological University that drastically speeds up the conversion of cockroaches into remotely controlled units. ### Key Findings and Conclusions: * **Automated Assembly Line:** Scientists have developed a computer-controlled system to convert cockroaches into cyborgs, significantly reducing the time and effort required compared to manual methods. * **Efficiency Improvement:** The new assembly line can convert a cockroach into a cyborg in **68 seconds**, a substantial improvement over the **15 minutes to an hour** it takes to do so by hand. * **Performance Equivalence:** Field tests have shown that both assembly-line and manually-assembled cyborg cockroaches perform similarly in remote-control tasks, such as following an S-shaped path and exploring obstructed terrain. * **Reduced Power Consumption:** This particular cyborg setup requires only **40% of the stimulation time** and **75% of the stimulation voltage** used in similar systems, making it more energy-efficient. * **Practicality for Large-Scale Deployment:** The automation of the process makes the deployment of large numbers of cyborg insects in real-life scenarios, particularly in time-sensitive operations, far more practical. ### Critical Information and Details: * **Cyborg Insect Design:** Cyborg insects, typically large ones like the Madagascar hissing cockroach, are equipped with a small electronic backpack. Remotely controlled electrodes in the backpack stimulate body parts (e.g., antennae, eyes) to control movement (start/stop walking, turn left/right). * **Primary Application:** A major proposed use for these cyborgs is **searching for survivors trapped under rubble at disaster sites**. A camera-equipped cyborg could navigate through debris and transmit live images and coordinates. * **Scalability for Disaster Response:** The ability to produce cyborg cockroaches rapidly and consistently in large numbers is crucial for effective post-disaster search and rescue operations. The concept involves deploying groups of these insects, potentially coordinating their search routes via wireless communication between their backpacks. * **Assembly Line Components:** The system incorporates a platform for holding the insect, an **Intel RealSense depth-sensing camera**, and a **UR3e robotic arm** with a **Hand-E robotic gripper**. * **Conversion Process:** 1. An anesthetized cockroach is secured on the platform. 2. A computer vision system assesses the insect's body size and position. 3. A section of the cockroach's outer cuticle is pulled back to expose a membrane. 4. A preassembled **2.3-gram backpack** is lowered onto the insect. 5. Two bipolar electrodes from the backpack are implanted into the exposed membrane. 6. The backpack is gently pressed down onto the cockroach's mesothorax until it latches. 7. The insect is released. * **Field Testing:** Manually-assembled cyborg cockroaches have already undergone field testing in Myanmar following a **7.7-magnitude earthquake**. * **Power and Stimulation:** The cyborg setup is more efficient, requiring less stimulation time and voltage. The backpack can also be removed between missions. * **Research Publication:** The research on this technology has been published in the journal **Nature Communications**. ### Notable Trends and Changes: The development signifies a shift from manual, time-consuming creation of cyborg insects to an automated, high-throughput process. This advancement directly addresses the need for practical, large-scale deployment of these bio-hybrid robots for critical applications like disaster response. ### Risks or Concerns: While not explicitly detailed as risks in this report, the ethical implications of creating insect cyborgs and their potential for misuse are inherent considerations in such research. The report focuses on the technological and practical aspects of the advancement. ### Financial Data: No specific financial data or investment figures were mentioned in this report. The development of the assembly line was supported by the **Japan Science and Technology Agency**.
Freaky ‘assembly line’ cranks out cyborg cockroaches in just over a minute
Read original at New Atlas →Instead of going to the time and trouble of designing and building tiny robots from scratch, some scientists are now turning existing insects into remote-control cyborgs. A new "assembly line" could help, by converting cockroaches into cyborgs far faster than can be done by hand.Putting it simply, cyborg insects typically consist of a large-ish insect – often a Madagascar hissing cockroach – that has been equipped with a small electronic backpack.
Remotely controlled electrodes in that backpack stimulate body parts such as the insect's antennae or eyes, causing it to start and stop walking, and turn left or right.And no, the whole thing isn't just an exercise in morbid curiosity.One of the main proposed uses for such cyborgs is searching for survivors trapped under rubble at disaster sites.
A remote-control camera-equipped cockroach could squeeze through otherwise-impassable gaps in the debris, transmitting live images and the coordinates of any survivors it comes across.A cyborg cockroach developed at North Carolina State UniversityEric WhitmireFor such a large-scale task, however, just a few cyborg cockroaches wouldn't suffice.
It is envisioned that large groups of the insects would be deployed throughout the rubble, possibly even coordinating their search routes via wireless communication between their backpacks. If the routes of two cyborgs were overlapping, for instance, their backpacks could steer them apart from one another.
In order to make such technology practical and feasible, the cockroaches can't be painstakingly converted by hand … they need to be cranked out quickly via an automated process. That's where the assembly line comes in.Development of the assembly line (pictured) was supported by the Japan Science and Technology AgencyNanyang Technological UniversityDeveloped by Prof.
Hirotaka Sato and colleagues at Singapore's Nanyang Technological University, the computer-controlled system incorporates a platform for holding the insect in place, an Intel RealSense depth-sensing camera, and a UR3e robotic arm with a Hand-E robotic gripper.After an anesthetized cockroach is secured on the platform, a motor slides that rig into position, and a computer vision system assesses the insect's body size and position.
One section of the cockroach's outer cuticle is then pulled back, revealing a membrane between its pronotum and mesothorax body segments.Next, a preassembled 2.3-gram backpack is lowered down onto the insect, and two bipolar electrodes at the front of that pack are implanted into the left and right sides of the exposed membrane.
The main backpack is then gently pressed down onto the cockroach's mesothorax until it latches into place. In a final step, the platform slides back out, and the still-anesthetized insect is released.A diagram of the assembly line and the cyborg cockroaches – manually-assembled cyborgs have already been field-tested in Myanmar, in the aftermath of a 7.
7-magnitude earthquakeNanyang Technological UniversityThe whole process takes 68 seconds per cockroach, as compared to anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour when performing the same task by hand. And in tests performed on assembly-line and manually-assembled cyborg cockroaches, both groups were found to perform similarly in remote-control tasks such as following an S-shaped path and exploring obstructed terrain.
As an added bonus for the insects (and for the backpacks' batteries), this particular cyborg setup requires only 40% of the stimulation time and 75% of the stimulation voltage used in similar systems. And yes, the backpack can be removed between missions."Our innovation makes the dream of deploying large numbers of cyborg insects in real-life scenarios far more practical," says Sato.
"By automating the process, we can produce insect-hybrid robots rapidly and consistently. It will allow us to prepare them in large numbers, which will be critical in time-sensitive operations such as post-disaster search and rescue."A paper on the research was recently published in the journal Nature Communications.
Source: Nanyang Technological University
