Biologically inspired engineering is the culmination of the unification of the life sciences with engineering and the physical sciences.
The creation of the robot cockroach took 7 months. A Russian organization which was the customer of this innovation wanted the robot to have three main characteristics. It should be externally similar to a cockroach, it must have the physical size of a cockroach and it should have the behavior pattern as close to a living cockroach as possible.
The robot cockroach has a length of 10 cm and travels at a speed of 30 cm / sec. The robot is equipped with a light-sensitive, contact and non-contact sensors to detect obstacles and to avoid them. The robot can be managed using a standard application on a mobile phone.
The robot can carry up to a 10 gram payload making it of interest to the military, as the miniature robot with a portable camera can penetrate into hard to reach places.
During his visit, the minister not only examined the cockroach but even tried to control it with a miniature remote control.
According to the head of the Ministry of Education, the device must be made in mass production, because children will definitely like it and it will help them get interested in engineering and programming.
“To be honest I have never seen anything like this in any of the Russian universities and even in the foreign ones I have not seen this,” Livanov said. “It's pretty cool as such an innovative atmosphere is a sign of rapid development and success.”
