While it may sound like something that has crawled (爬) out of your nightmares, cyborg(半机器的)cockroaches(蟑螂)have arrived as friends rather than enemies. Researchers from Japan's RIKEN Cluster for Pioneering Research have designed anew remote-controlled insect, equipped with a battery "backpack" that is powered by solar panels(太阳能板)
The cyborg cockroach, which is part insect and part machine, is intended to enter dangerous areas, monitor the environment or undertake search and rescue missions without needing to be recharged(充电).
Famously able to survive a nuclear war, cockroaches have been the inspiration for a number of technologies in recent years. The cockroaches are still alive, but wires attached to their two "cerci"(尾须)—sensory organs on the end of their stomachs—send electrical impulses(脉冲)that cause the insect to move right or left. A battery is necessary for the sending and receiving of these electrical signals, which needs to be charged up.
While it's possible to build docking stations for recharging the battery, the need to return and recharge could disturb time-sensitive missions. The RIKEN team wanted to create a more practical version when it ran out of power. Therefore, they designed an on-board solar cell that could continuously ensure that the cockroach stays charged while it works.
However, cockroaches have a limited surface area available for all the components necessary to move its legs and keep it powered. The solution, published in npj Flexible Electronics, was to design a special "backpack" that could neatly carry both the wireless leg-control module and rechargeable lithium polymer(锂聚合物)battery.
This was attached to the top of the insect on its chest, and was 3D printed to fit perfectly to the curved surface of the Madagascar cockroach. It allowed for this electronic device to be stably fixed on the insect for over a month, while leaving space elsewhere on the body to implant the solar panel.