Insect-sized micro-machines

Insect-sized micro-machines

Insect-sized micro-machines

Keywords Micromachining, Robots, Japan

A small-wheeled robot – designed by a group led by Ryohai Kanzaki of Tsukuba Science University in Ibaraki prefecture, just north of Tokyo, and Isao Shimoyama, a professor at Tokyo University, the oldest of Japan's prestigious institutes – is claimed to incorporate antennae from the silkworm moth. The team believes that its work will bring about the fusion of insects and machines, resulting in the development of insect-like robots.

The scientists pointed out that when the antennae detect "certain chemical signals in the air, they generate signals that cause the robot to move towards the origin of the chemical, just like real moths". In the future, such insect robots will be controllable by a human operator so that they can be employed for inspecting pipes and other places that are inaccessible to humans. The first prototype is 4cm long.

When the antennae recognise the pheromone released by the female moth to attract the male, they generate weak signals that are processed by the circuit of eight silicon neurons and used to direct the movement of the wheels; and, like real-life moths, the robot moves towards the site where the pheromone is being released.

The Kanzaki-Shimoyama team has, in addition, developed a new way to observe action in the insect brain, and has used this method to work out which part of the brain processes the signals when the antennae are stimulated.

The brain and the nervous system of the silkworm moth is said to be a million times smaller than its mammalian counterpart, yet it still enables the insect to discriminate between its peers and to remember precisely the location of its food. The Japanese are seeking to find out more about this insect's brain and nervous system organisation in order to subsequently apply this knowledge to fabricating insect-sized micro-machines.