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The new robot roach called CRAM will be able to fit in any tight spaces.
BEACON TRANSCRIPT – Although cockroaches are generally considered repulsive critters, scientists have discovered that their natural abilities that make them crawl through narrow spaces or to adapt virtually to any scenario can come in handy. In the future, robot roaches will be used for search and rescue ops.
It’s a proven scientific fact that no matter what you do to a cockroach, the creep will always find a way to survive. And it’s no wonder that the little creeps managed to survive during several ice ages and to any concoction man used in order to eradicate them.
According to a recent research project, their survival skills are uncanny. The mere kitchen cockroach can survive pressures which are 900 times its body weight. Moreover, the cockroach can fit into passages that are 60 percent smaller than its body’s size. Not only they contort their body into fitting small niches, but they can travel at unnatural speeds. The most recent research have determined that a cockroach can travel up to 20 times its length in a second.
This doesn’t come as a shock due to the fact that the crawling fiends can pop up from literally everywhere, like loose kitchen tiles or tiny holes in the woodwork.
Presently, the scientists want to take advantage of the roach’s survival skills and put them to good use. To this end, a team of researchers from UC Berkeley, led by Doctor Kaushik Jayaram are on the verge of launching the first prototype of a crawling micro robot, imbued with the same skills as the roach.
According to the scientists in charge of the project, the robotic cockroach devised in Berkeley’s labs has basically the same abilities as the real cockroach. They’ve declared that if the experiment is successful, the robotic roach can be used in extremely delicate search and rescue operations, like finding victims which are stuck under tons of rubble, right after an earthquake.
Robot roaches will be used for search and rescue ops, especially in cases where narrow passages must be navigated. The robotic marvel is called CRAM, short for compressible robot with articulated mechanisms. Basically, the roach’s mechanism allows it to bend at several points in order to access narrow spaces.
Moreover, the roach is made from a special material which provides it with a flexible body and protective shell. Also, apart from the fact that the robot is capable of shrinking in size, it moves and looks like any regular kitchen cockroach.
So, next time you decide to punish a cockroach for its transgression, double check it to be sure that it didn’t run away from Berkeley.
Photo credits:www.youtube.com
