These Cyborg Cockroaches Could Save Your Life

这些“赛博蟑螂”或许能拯救你的生命

Small robots and drones have increasingly been used to help respond to disasters, reaching locations that are too hard or too dangerous to send humans, such as collapsed buildings. Many of these efforts have been focused on search and rescue. But new research shows how bugs—with their ability to crawl through even narrower gaps in rubble—outfitted with electrodes could be used as the next generation of first responders.

小型机器人和无人机越来越多地被用于灾难响应，它们能够进入人类难以到达或过于危险的区域，例如坍塌的建筑物。这些工作大多集中在搜救领域。但最新研究表明，通过在昆虫身上安装电极，利用它们能够穿过废墟中更狭窄缝隙的能力，这些昆虫有望成为下一代急救人员。

A research team from the University of Queensland (UQ) and the University of New South Wales (UNSW) have developed the “Paraborg” to not only help with searching for victims, but also administer first aid. While the idea of receiving medical care from a cockroach might be a little skin-crawling, the new cyborg bug could one day help buy human rescuers valuable time in a disaster zone.

来自昆士兰大学（UQ）和新南威尔士大学（UNSW）的研究团队开发了“Paraborg”，它不仅能协助搜寻受害者，还能进行急救。虽然从蟑螂那里接受医疗护理的想法可能会让人感到毛骨悚然，但这种新型赛博昆虫未来或许能在灾区为人类救援人员争取宝贵的时间。

“Cyborg insects have been designed for ‘search and explore’ missions for the past couple of decades,” Tan Vo Doan, a bio-robotics researcher at UQ, says in a press release. “We wanted to take the next step.”

“过去几十年来，赛博昆虫一直被设计用于‘搜索与探索’任务，”昆士兰大学的生物机器人研究员 Tan Vo Doan 在新闻稿中表示，“我们希望迈出下一步。”

The team relied on a giant burrowing cockroach that inhabits northern Queensland to develop the Paraborg, which they documented in a recent paper published in the journal Advanced Science. The armored cockroach is up to 87 millimeters (3.5 inches) in length and weighs up to 40 grams (1.4 ounces).

该团队利用栖息在昆士兰北部的一种巨型穴居蟑螂开发了 Paraborg，并在发表于《先进科学》（Advanced Science）期刊的最新论文中记录了这一成果。这种装甲蟑螂体长可达 87 毫米（3.5 英寸），体重可达 40 克（1.4 盎司）。

Taking advantage of this large size, the research team developed two types of Paraborgs with different functions: one equipped with a camera to film the condition of disaster victims, and another with an automatic injection mechanism to administer medication. Cockroaches can carry up to 1.5 times its body weight. In practice, a cockroach equipped with the injection mechanism saw its total height increase by about 15 millimeters and its weight by about 17 grams, which the study found did not significantly impair its normal movements. To create the cyborg cockroaches, the team anesthetized them when the electrodes and microchips were attached, and they lived as normal cockroaches once the equipment was removed.

利用这种体型优势，研究团队开发了两种功能不同的 Paraborg：一种配备了摄像头，用于拍摄灾区受害者的状况；另一种则配备了自动注射装置，用于施药。蟑螂的负重能力可达其体重的 1.5 倍。在实践中，配备注射装置的蟑螂总高度增加了约 15 毫米，重量增加了约 17 克，研究发现这并未显著影响其正常活动。为了制造这些赛博蟑螂，团队在安装电极和微芯片时对它们进行了麻醉，而在拆除设备后，它们依然能像普通蟑螂一样生活。

By applying electrical stimuli to electrodes embedded in the cockroach’s antennae and cerci—a pair of protruding sensory organs at the rear of the abdomen—researchers were able to remotely control the bug’s direction of travel and walking speed.

通过向嵌入蟑螂触角和尾须（腹部后方的一对突出感觉器官）的电极施加电刺激，研究人员能够远程控制昆虫的行进方向和行走速度。

They were able to steer the roach by stimulating each antenna independently, while stimulating both cerci controlled the pace. The scientists administered different frequencies between 10 and 40 hertz after finding that anything over 50 hertz became ineffective over time.

他们通过独立刺激每根触角来引导蟑螂转向，而同时刺激两根尾须则可以控制步伐。科学家们在发现超过 50 赫兹的频率随时间推移会失效后，采用了 10 到 40 赫兹之间的不同频率进行刺激。

The injection mechanism is a small device that deploys a syringe using a spring system. That triggers a process that breaks the seal between a chamber containing citric acid and another containing baking soda. The resulting chemical reaction—basically the same one you might’ve done as a kid to make a volcano with baking soda and vinegar—creates enough carbon dioxide to push the plunger on the syringe and administer medication.

注射装置是一个小型设备，利用弹簧系统来部署注射器。它会触发一个过程，打破装有柠檬酸的腔室与装有小苏打的腔室之间的密封。由此产生的化学反应——基本上和你小时候用小苏打和醋制作“火山喷发”实验的原理相同——会产生足够的二氧化碳，推动注射器活塞并完成药物注射。

For the study, the research team remotely controlled a cockroach to travel from its starting point through three checkpoints and administer an injection to a simulated target.

在研究中，研究团队远程控制一只蟑螂从起点出发，穿过三个检查点，并对一个模拟目标进行了注射。

The results showed that the success rate for injections made at close range—within 150 millimeters of the target—topped out at approximately 95 percent. The success rate for the entire sequence of tasks—from departure to completion of the injection—was 72 percent.

结果显示，在近距离（目标 150 毫米以内）进行注射的成功率最高可达约 95%。而从出发到完成注射的整个任务序列成功率为 72%。

The researchers also successfully demonstrated teamwork, where one cockroach uses a camera to locate a simulated target while another serves as the injector.

研究人员还成功演示了团队协作，即一只蟑螂利用摄像头定位模拟目标，而另一只蟑螂则负责注射。

Although the research team has previously developed cyborg beetles capable of climbing vertical walls, they note that larger cockroaches are better-suited for carrying specialized rescue and medical equipment.

尽管研究团队此前曾开发过能够攀爬垂直墙壁的赛博甲虫，但他们指出，体型较大的蟑螂更适合携带专业的救援和医疗设备。

While the results of the new research are promising, the experiment didn’t replicate the complex environmental conditions found at actual disaster sites, such as debris, uneven terrain, and shifting landscapes.

虽然这项新研究的结果令人鼓舞，但实验尚未模拟实际灾难现场复杂的环境条件，例如废墟、崎岖的地形和不断变化的景观。

Vo Doan expressed hope that, if resources can be secured to speed up research and field testing, a rescue team of cyborg insects could be deployed at actual disaster sites within five to 10 years.

Vo Doan 表示希望，如果能获得资源以加快研究和实地测试，一支由赛博昆虫组成的救援队有望在 5 到 10 年内被部署到实际的灾难现场。

“Rather than building one robot to do everything, we can harness the natural strengths of different insects and equip them for different missions,” Vo-Doan says.