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Russian Scientists Create Cockroach Spy Robot

Posted by samzenpus on from the bug-spy dept.

An anonymous reader writes: A team of scientists at the Kaliningrad-based Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University has unveiled a small cockroach robot which will be tasked with hunting out victims trapped under debris. The robot measures 10cm in length, and can move at up to 30cm/second. The device is fitted with light sensors, as well as contact and non-contact probes which allows it to move around without bumping into any obstacles. “We had to develop many things from scratch. For example, there’s a company in Austria that produces gearing for legs, but a unit for one robot would have cost us nearly $9,000 while our entire budget is $22,500,” said Danil Borchevkin, the university’s lead engineer.

50 comments

  1. Again? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I thought they used it in the Fifth Element, and that it was Soviet. Also, ISR the cockroach spy robot creates the scientists.

    1. Re:Again? by TWX · · Score: 2

      First thing that popped into my mind was a shoe being slammed down on the mechanical cockroach and Right Arm screaming in pain as he pulls the headphones off his ears... Now everyone around me is wondering why I'm laughing...

      --
      Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
  2. Systemd cockroach robot? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    FIRST FOR SYSTEMD???

    1. Re:Systemd cockroach robot? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If you were using a system built on SysVinit, you might have actually been First.

  3. The Fith Element! by stevop123 · · Score: 1

    It had to be said.

  4. Re:The Fifth Element! by stevop123 · · Score: 2

    Correction: The Fifth Element!

  5. The Fifth Element Prior Art FTW by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    anyone else wonder if the operator's headphones will fly out like the guy in The Fifth Element?
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrHMBletjXg

  6. Re:The Fifth Element! by stevop123 · · Score: 1

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

  7. Ugly by Mr+D+from+63 · · Score: 1

    Do they have to make it look like a cockroach? If I'm trapped under debri, seeing cockroaches crawling toward me is not exactly what I'd want.

    1. Re:Ugly by gstoddart · · Score: 3, Insightful

      My guess if it had to look like a real cockroach, the purpose is first and foremost spying.

      If it's truly just the "go into debris and look for people", there is no need whatsoever to look like a cockroach.

      That design constraint pretty much screams covert spying.

      --
      Lost at C:>. Found at C.
    2. Re:Ugly by QilessQi · · Score: 1

      That, and this:

      The researchers are this week working on a camo version for use by the Russian military. The national army has already expressed interest in the bot, attracted by its ability to carry up to 10g – a potential option for carrying portable cameras into enclosed areas and tight spaces.

      --
      Koans and fables for the software engineer
    3. Re:Ugly by rlwhite · · Score: 1

      That was my first thought too, but if that's the case, why a cockroach? Sure, it has a small size that can go unnoticed much of the time, but if someone sees a cockroach their first instinct is to kill it, and crunching down on a bunch of electronics is going to have a different sound and feel than squishing a real cockroach. At that point the spies are suspected.

      I'd choose something cute, cuddly, dumb, and not particularly agile, like hamsters.

    4. Re:Ugly by roman_mir · · Score: 1

      The point of this is not to help to find anybody under debris, the point is to build a spy tool for Putin and his cohorts to seed these things around the world, everywhere where ears and eyes could provide information useful to remain in power and steal more, so this contraption will look like a cockroach or some other insect or animal or object that can move around and spy while not being easily detectable.

      --
      You can't handle the truth.
    5. Re:Ugly by fhage · · Score: 1
      Note that researchers found the cockroach body shape useful for navigating through obstacles.

      Paint it orange and give it a little LED headlight for rescue. I'd be happy to see a robot roach if I were buried.

    6. Re:Ugly by Aighearach · · Score: 1

      Obviously you need to use it for disaster relief because you can get people to pay for the testing, and then you have performance data relevant for military use. That way you know how to price the final version.

    7. Re:Ugly by Aighearach · · Score: 1

      People are only going to try to squish it indoors. If it is hiding in the bushes, most humans will scurry away. If it looks cute, they'll stop and scrutinize it. This is for military recon, not signals intelligence or spy vs spy.

    8. Re:Ugly by tehcyder · · Score: 1

      That was my first thought too, but if that's the case, why a cockroach? Sure, it has a small size that can go unnoticed much of the time, but if someone sees a cockroach their first instinct is to kill it, and crunching down on a bunch of electronics is going to have a different sound and feel than squishing a real cockroach. At that point the spies are suspected.

      I'd choose something cute, cuddly, dumb, and not particularly agile, like hamsters.

      But then there is the danger of your spy-hamster "accidentally" ending up in someone's bottom and having to be removed in A&E.

      --
      To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
  8. Hunting victims, but not that kind by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If this were really made for hunting victims trapped under debris, why did they make it look like a cockroach?

    1. Re:Hunting victims, but not that kind by penguinoid · · Score: 1

      If this were really made for hunting victims trapped under debris, why did they make it look like a cockroach?

      It make sense, of course. If it were shaped like a robot and had big bold letters spelling out "RESCUE", people would be terrified. I mean, they're trapped under debris and then they're faced with a killer robot. But by making the robot look like a part of nature, they can help soothe the victims like a gentle caress from Mother Earth. All that is remains is to solve the problem causing sudden mechanical failure shortly after finding a victim.

      --
      Don't waste your vote! Vote for whoever you want, unless you live in a swing state it won't matter anyways
  9. 10cm? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    10cm is 4 inches. That is a big f**king roach. I guess they grow 'em big in Russia. When read the title, I was envisaging something a bit more, you know, roach sized.

    1. Re:10cm? by rlwhite · · Score: 2

      Chernobyl cockroaches!

    2. Re:10cm? by antdude · · Score: 1

      They should do ants too. :P

      --
      Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
  10. look in the mirror by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    finally face to face with our greatest enemy, goes for everybody the same... cease fire stand down there's moms & babys in all of our towns... there'll be nothing left but some roaches & our genocidal wmd on credit crown royal mutant overlords...

  11. Re:NIGGER NIGGER NIGGERS CANT YOU SEE... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Are these gay niggers or straight niggers?

  12. babys are afraid of loud noise by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    add starvation, rockets red glare babys bursting in air, hard to even imagine, we cannot even lookt?

  13. dr. nefario would be proud by boskone · · Score: 1

    He'd have made them some boogie robots

  14. Makin america "great again" -- or nuclear war site by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Informative

    The so-called DONALD TRUMP, who points his finger at hillary clinton, claiming that she shouldn't run for office because of the criminal actions she did by deleting her mails, and hosting them on her own server, is, in fact HIMSELF a criminal.

    He claims that he wants to rebuild america. But HOW DID HE BUILD THE "TRUMP TOWER" ??? --> he used illegal business methods:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Ltqvv0MsPw&feature=youtu.be&t=31m21s

    He wants to make america "great again". But is that the way to make a country great? To bring crime upon it? To hire the cheapest shit, well knowing that they employ illegal immigrants, and don't pay them money? To hide the fact that the building you demolish has asbestos, because its too expensive to get rid of it the legal way? => Hiding highly toxic and dangerous trash as NORMAL is a CLASSICAL mafia tactic!

    Btw, you should watch the whole documentary (LINK ABOVE), to fully open your eyes to DONALD TRUMP.

    TRUMP's LIFE has been full with crime and dubious business tactics -- having him in the oval office WOULD MEAN severe DISASTROUS impacts for the US economy and the world's security. Imagine what happens if trump tries one of his "tricks" on russia, one of the two countries in the world with the LARGEST NUCLEAR ARSENAL, and PUTIN FREAKS OUT.

    The result of DONALD TRUMP being president is the NUCLEAR HOLOCAUST and the END OF CIVILISATION "as we know it".

  15. Re:The Fifth Element! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    you rat you stole my link =) (or Great mind's think (google) alike)
    The Fifth Element Prior Art FTW (Score:0)

  16. Re:Greek Scientists Create Cock Spying Robot by tripleevenfall · · Score: 1

    I know it's a troll, but "I have used SLASHDOT VIDEO to find a sex partner" made me LOL

  17. So much cleverness, such stupidity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If I were trapped under rubble, and a giant cockroach ran up to me, I'd still smash it. (Perhaps if I had read the article, there would be a perfectly reasonable explanation for why it had to *look* like a cockroach, though it's hard to believe.)

  18. Note to self by ThatsNotPudding · · Score: 2

    Watch The Fifth Element again.

  19. $22,500 seriously? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Hexbug $9.99

    https://www.hexbug.com/mechanical/original#

  20. Would it be easier to just use a cockroach? by SuricouRaven · · Score: 1

    Just wire your control board into the roach's nervous system. It's a standard laboratory procedure now, used for training purposes. You can steer them around by remote control. The autonomous functions even handle uneven terrain for you.

  21. Weak, old hat stuff... by Bugler412 · · Score: 2

    In the robotics lab at the university I work at they have functional insect robots, both flying and walking, remote controllable or semi-autonomous, remote video/audio, self charging by landing on light fixtures and such, actual insect sized (not a 10CM "cockroach" jeez) as office toys. They are WAY beyond the stuff noted here by the Russians. Scary way beyond...

    1. Re:Weak, old hat stuff... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      We get it. You have a small penis and you want to compensate by claiming letting everyone know that you're better than them.

    2. Re:Weak, old hat stuff... by Bugler412 · · Score: 1

      Except that I don't work in that department, even remotely. Troll away...

  22. "Spy?" by msobkow · · Score: 1

    Trust an American editor to label anything and everything the Russians develop as "spy" equipment. Heaven forbid they should actually care about saving lives. :(

    --
    I do not fail; I succeed at finding out what does not work.
  23. DARPA Did it by Sir+Holo · · Score: 1

    Did DARPA do it?

    DARPA did it.

    What didn't DARPA do?!?

  24. Hmmmm. by minkowski76 · · Score: 1

    Very ugly in design and crudely manufactured. Much bigger than the reference insect as well, and I suspect it's not much more than a sensor or two, a little motor, a battery, and a wireless unit. Doubtful it can walk up walls, or even steep inclines, which means it's little more than a crude skittering thing with a ridiculous and unnecessary carapace glued to the top of its carriage.

    1. Re:Hmmmm. by Aighearach · · Score: 1

      It is about the size of the reference insect, but they wanted a larger reference insect they just couldn't find one for sale to include. It is the same size as the originally intended reference insect, and the case could be reworked to match the new reference.

      It is a crude skittering military recon bot that looks like a nasty bug and can hide in the bushes. And is cheap, cheap, cheap.

  25. "Robot" by Snufu · · Score: 2

    Right. In Russia, its much cheaper to just train real cockroach to be spies. Tiny sunglasses and trenchcoats are the giveaway.

  26. Looks like cheap crap by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It looks cheap and clunky, it's too big, and there's no video. So freakin' disappointing that this is on the front page.

    1. Re:Looks like cheap crap by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No video in the articles or summary anyways. Here's one on youtube:
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMZYGfJ_f1o

  27. Real life imitates art? by the_arrow · · Score: 1

    I remember reading some Piranha Club strips, were Santa and some spying elf sent a mechanical cockroach to spy on Spencer.

    I wonder if they have that comic strip in Russia?

    --
    / The Arrow
    "How lovely you are. So lovely in my straightjacket..." - Nny