UAVs and insect cyborgs collaborate to map disaster zones

Researchers have developed a combination of software and hardware that will allow them to use unmanned aerial vehicles and insect cyborgs – or biobiots - to map terrain such as collapsed buildings.

"The idea would be to release a swarm of sensor-equipped biobots - such as remotely controlled cockroaches - into a collapsed building or other dangerous, unmapped area," said Edgar Lobaton, an assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at North Carolina State and co-author of two papers describing the work.

"Using remote-control technology, we would restrict the movement of the biobots to a defined area," said Lobaton. "That area would be defined by proximity to a beacon on a UAV. For example, the biobots may be prevented from going more than 20m from the UAV."

According to NC State, the biobots would be allowed to move freely within a defined area and would signal researchers via radio waves whenever they got close to each other. Custom software would then use an algorithm to translate the biobot sensor data into a rough map of the unknown environment.