Scientists have been imitating Mother Nature for years with robotic creations. How can you beat designs that have been proven by survival of the fittest? Whether it be snake robots to slither through the rubble of an earthquake in a search and rescue mission, or a robotic carp developed to monitor water for pollution, robotics researchers have more and more relied on nature in their designs.

Well now the shoe is on the other foot. In 2004, through a five year grant from the National Science Foundation, engineers, scientists and bioligists were put to the test to understand the neurological and mechanical basis of locomotion.  In 2009, engineers at the University of California, Berkeley, unveiled a simple constructed 4-inch, 16-gram bug put together by folding cardboard and polymer sheets. The six-legged robotic cockroach called the DASH (Dynamic Autonomous Sprawled Hexapod) was able to survive 92 foot falls. The problem that they found, though, was that it that when it fell, it would land on its back and have difficulty righting itself.

How they responded to the problem has been instrumental in learning how the evolutionary process seems to work. After extensive research, they have unveiled their solution: DASH+Wings. By adding four wings to the robot, it is able to not only run at a much higher speed, but it also is able to land on its feet when descending from an object. They see this robot as helpful in finding earthquake victims, being able to crawl through the rubble where humans cannot go.

Hopefully Mother Nature doesn’t mimic robotics. We don’t need any flying cockroaches around, thank you!