Are you worried about cyber-bugs? The enhanced insects are there to do good, according to an inventor behind the headline- grabbing invention.
In a new interview, Kenjiro Fukuda of the Riken research institute's Thin-Film Device Laboratory explained the use cases he and his team are dreaming up for their remote-controlled roaches.
The little buggies can fit into places humans are too small for, and he says their endurance will be better as a result.
Fukuda said that the time for exploration became shorter because the batteries in the small robots ran out quickly. When it comes to an insect's movements, the insect is causing itself to move, so the electricity required is not as much.
The way these guys do their jobs is very clever. The large roaches fitted with solar cell-powered backpacks get their nerve-like appendages stimulated by the packs, which in turn signals to them which direction to go.
In one demonstration, a roaches went in circles when it was supposed to turn left, but the researchers signaled for it to do so remotely. It is a remarkable feat of science.
The explicitly heroic purpose Fukuda and his team have in mind for the funny little cyborgs is reassuring.
There's a Japanese insect coming to the disaster area.
Musk says that the robot could achieve AGI.
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