Have tail, will flip

VelociRoACH. © UC Berkeley.

Ever see a roach on its back, flailing its legs around helplessly? Ron Fearing, of UC Berkeley’s Biomimetic Millisystems Lab, has the answer to their prayers: a tail. Biomimetic Millisystems has been working on cockroach robots for years. At IROS 2017, it presented a roach with a tail, able to easily and quickly flip itself over on its stomach. Besides a tail, the 77.5-gram, 18-centimeter-long VelociRoACH also has a protective polycarbonate shell for impact protection, meaning it can fall down a flight of stairs unharmed, roll over, and scurry on its merry way.

⇨ IEEE Spectrum, “Cockroach Robot Grows Tail, Does Flips.”