UC Berkeley’s Biomimetic Millisystems Lab, headed by Ron Fearing, has years of experience building all kinds of different flavors of robotic roaches, many of which have been modeled fairly closely on actual roaches. However, their latest roachbot (presented at IROS 2017) makes a notable departure from the original insect: It’s got a tail, which actual cockroaches don’t, meaning that it can flip itself over with ease.
