# video | Robot roaches help each other to stand up

UC Berkeley has tenFor years, the development of VelociRoACH robotic cockroaches has been going on - engineers want to make them as realistic and manoeuvrable as possible. Like real insects, they sometimes fall on their backs and cannot roll over, so developers are looking for a way to solve this problem. In 2017, they equipped cockroaches with tails that really helped them get on their feet, but since these insects do not have such tails, the researchers began to look for an alternative. She was found - from now on, robots can stand up due to shells and teamwork.

Updated cockroaches VelociRoACH equippedcurved polycarbonate shells - about the same are found in many real insects. On both sides of the shell are rubber bands that increase the adhesion between the shell and the surface. Due to this, a cockroach that fell on its back can be turned over by a “relative” that crashed into its side.

Robots have learned mutual support

The researchers found that successturning over directly depends on the angle of collision. During the experiments, it was found that with a direct collision, the cockroaches turn in 87% of cases, but with an increase in the angle by 30 or 45 degrees, the success increases to 100%.

Also in turning success is a big partplays a form of shell. If it were round, it would have an infinite number of centers of rotation, making it difficult to turn over. Realizing this, the engineers used a cylindrical shape with a single center of rotation - in this case, success was clearly achieved.

Cockroaches are able to overcome the mostvarious obstacles, so scientists carefully study their movements. They hope that new knowledge will help them to create the most maneuverable robots - in 2018, scientists from Johns Hopkins University began studying the movements of 5-centimeter American cockroaches and shared the results of the study.

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