The Economist - UK (2022-03-26)

The Economist March 26th 2022 Science & technology 81

W

hygotoallthetroubleofdesign­

ingandbuildinga droneif nature

hasalreadydonemostofthejobforyou?

Thatistheattitudetakenbythesmallbut

determinedbandofresearcherswhoare

tryingtorobotiseinsects.Someare

workingonturningflyingcritterslike

beetlesintosuchcyborgs—perhapsfor

useinmilitaryreconnaissanceorespio­

nage.Othersprefertoconcentrateonthe

creepy­crawlysideofentomology,by

takingelectroniccontrolofcockroaches.

Thefirstcyber­roachgoesbackto

1997,whenShimoyamaIsaoofTokyo

Universitysentelectricalsignalstoa

cockroach’santennae,causingit toturn

eitherleftorrightdependingonwhich

antennawasstimulated.Othershave

builtonthisapproachbyrecruitingextra

senseorgans,suchastherear­facing

cerci.Theyhavealsobegunfittingthe

insectswithinstrumentpacksthat

mightletthemdoa usefuljob:searching

collapsedbuildingsforsurvivors.

OnesuchisSatoHirotakaofNanyang

TechnologicalUniversity,inSingapore.

Hehasbeenworkingoncyber­insects

(includingflyingversions,intheformof

giantflowerbeetles)for 15 years.Now,he

hasaddedanothertwisttocyber­roach­

es.Insteadofhavingtheirmovements

dictatedbyremotecontrol,hisareau­

tonomousagents.Theyarerunbyalgo­

rithmsthatresponddirectlytosensors

intheirbackpacks.

TheinsectsthusfittedoutbyDrSato

areMadagascarhissingcockroaches,

whichareabout6cmlong.Theback­

packscontaina communicationschip,a

carbon­dioxidesensor,a motionsensor,

aninfraredcameraanda tinybattery.

Forsearch­and­rescueoperationsin

collapsedbuildings,fleetsofthese

roacheswouldbereleasedintotherub­

ble,tocrawltheirwaythroughwhile

searchingforsignsoflifesuchasmove­

ment,bodyheatandelevatedCO 2 levels

fromrespiration.Theartificialintelli­

gencethatdecideswhethera setofsig­

nalsactuallyindicatethepresenceofa

humanbeingisprogrammeddirectly

intothecamera.Ifit thinksit hasspotted

someone,it alertsa rescuer.

Totestthisarrangement,DrSatoand

histeamrantrialsina simulateddisaster

zone.Theylaidoutconcreteblocksof

variousshapesandsizesinanareaof 25

squaremetres.Interspersedamongthese

werea numberofpeople,andalsosome

decoys,suchasa heatlamp,a microwave

ovenanda laptop.Theythenreleasedthe

cyber­roaches,havingfirstprogrammed

intothemthesearch’sstartandend

points.Thesoftwareprovedableto

recognisehumanscorrectly87%ofthe

time,a successrateDrSatothinkscould

beimprovedstillfurtherbycollecting

multipleimagesfromdifferentangles.

Thenextphaseoftheprojectisto

refinethesystemforuseoutofdoors.

Thatdone,manufactureofthebackpacks

andautomationoftheirattachmentto

theinsectswillneedtobecommercial­

ised.Ifallgoeswell,DrSatoreckonsthe

resultcouldbeavailablefordeployment

withinfiveyears.

Cyborginsects

Roaches to the rescue

S INGAPORE

Robotisedarthropodsmaysearchcollapsedbuildingsforsurvivors

Aroachinthehand...

ates  towards  it  at  up  to  160kph,  chasing  it
automatically if it takes evasive action. 
Robert Bunker, director of research and
analysis at c/oFutures, a security consul­
tancy in California, says that the precision
thus  offered  allows  Switchblade  to  focus
on high­value targets: not just artillery, but
the  headquarters  and  command  vehicles
of  artillery  units.  The  close­up  view  pro­
vided  by  camera  and  thermal­imager
means that targets can be picked with care.
Moreover, if the operator realises a mis­
take has been made as the drone closes in,
the attack can be called off and the weapon
flown back into the sky until another target
has  been  identified.  That  gives  Switch­
blade an advantage over a different sort of
loiterer, armed drones. These, in the form
of  missile­carrying  Bayraktar  tb2  drones
from Turkey, helped Ukraine mount its de­
fence  in  the  early  phases  of  the  war.  But
they are the size of light aircraft and need
considerable  supporting  infrastructure,
such as runways and refuelling facilities. A
Switchblade,  by  contrast,  can  be  carried
around in a backpack (it is about the size of
a  baguette)  and  deployed  whenever  need­
ed. It is also cheaper, far easier to distribute
and can be used with minimal training.
Though  thousands  of  Switchblades
have been used in action by American forc­
es  in  Iraq  and  Afghanistan  since  their  in­
troduction  in  2011,  they  have  until  now
flown  under  the  metaphorical  as  well  as
the  physical  radar.  No  video  has  been  re­
leased  of  them  in  combat.  And  they  have
been  exported  only  to  Britain,  probably
America’s most trusted ally. 
Ukraine,  however,  is  well  prepared  to
use  them.  Its  military  planners  realised
some  time  ago  that  loitering  munitions
could be an effective equaliser for a small­
ish  country  threatened  by  a  large  neigh­
bour. In 2017 the government signed a deal
with  wbGroup,  a  Polish  electronics  com­
pany,  to  buy  supplies  of  its  catapult­
launched  Warmate  loiterer,  which  has  a
weight  of  5.3kg  and  a  range  of  15km—
though  legal  problems  interfered  with  its
planned deployment last year, and wheth­
er  it  is  now  in  use  is  not  public  informa­
tion.  Nevertheless,  in  December  the  de­
fence  ministry  announced  that  dedicated
loitering­munition units would be formed
within  Ukraine’s  army,  to  act  as  parts  of
“brigades of the future”.
On  top  of  all  this,  several  Ukrainian
firms  are  developing  loiterers.  The  most
advanced project is run by Athlon Avia, one
of many enterprises which sprang up to aid
the  armed  forces  before,  during  and  after
the Crimean crisis of 2014. Since then, Ath­
lon has become a full­fledged drone­mak­
er,  and  one  of  its  products,  the  st­35,  is  a
loitering  munition.  This  weapon passed
flight  tests  with  the  Ukrainian  army  in
2020—though whether it has yet been de­
ployed has not been announced.

The  st­35  is  launched  in  an  unusual

way. Instead of being fired from the ground

it  is  taken  aloft  by  a  multicopter  drone

which,  after  releasing  it,  then  acts  as  a

communication  link.  That  gives  an  effec­

tive control range of 30km. 

Three other Ukrainian firms—Adrones,

cdetand  Cobra—are  also  working  on  the

idea, and although none had a deployable

system when the current war started, expe­

rience  has  shown  that  Ukrainian  armour­

ers  excel  at  improvisation  and  at  turning

out  usable  products  rapidly  in  difficult

conditions.  Weapons  which  offer  the  po­

tential of striking unseen from long range,

whether  supplied  from  America  or  from

Poland  or  in  haste  from  local  workshops,

are  particularly  valuable.  Their success

may  also  give  an  insight  into  howimpor­

tant they could be in future wars. n