Cockroaches are not the only insects that have captured scientific imagination. Projects that highlight both the flight of the locust and the crawling of the soft-bodied caterpillar are also underway.
Locusts are amazing flyers, Prof. Ayali notes. Scientists are studying both their aerodynamic build and their energy metabolism for long-distance flights. Recordings of their nervous systems and simultaneous video tracking to observe the movement of their wings during flight can be expected to lead to better technology for miniscule flying robots.
As for caterpillars, engineers are trying to recreate in soft-bodied robots what they call the creatures' endless degrees of freedom of movement. Caterpillars are not confined by a stiff structure - they have no rigid skeletons, says Prof. Ayali. This is exactly what makes them unique.