A German startup is turning cockroaches into cyborg spies

Strapping electronics to insects and calling it robotics, but will it work?

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Forward-looking: In a Berlin laboratory, a team at SWARM Biotactics is turning insects into living robots. The German startup is developing microelectronic backpacks that can transform Madagascar hissing cockroaches into mobile reconnaissance units capable of carrying cameras, microphones, and Doppler radar through confined or hazardous environments.

CEO Stefan Wilhelm told CBS the choice of insect was deliberate. The Madagascar hissing cockroach is large enough to carry small payloads, resilient under extreme conditions, and well studied in biology labs. "Millions of years of evolution actually produced a very resilient, a very mobile and a very capable insect," Wilhelm said. "That is, for what we want to do, a perfect, perfect animal, actually."

SWARM's biology, electronics, and robotics system weighs up to 15 grams. Engineers are working to bring that figure down to 10 grams to reduce strain on the insect. Each unit can hold sensors such as optical cameras or radar modules, turning the insect into a low-profile reconnaissance device.

According to Wilhelm, cockroaches can survive exposure to chemicals, heat, and radiation – all of which make them suitable for environments that conventional robots or humans cannot safely enter. "It's low signature, it's super energy efficient. It's almost undetectable … and you can scale it almost unlimitedly," he said. SWARM has also begun evaluating other potential species, including locusts and grasshoppers, for future development.

A neurophysiological interface designed by SWARM's insect neuroscientists attaches electrodes to the cockroach's antennae to stimulate natural navigational responses.

Human operators can steer individual insects via controllers, but the company is also building software for autonomous swarming. Wilhelm said the goal is to use algorithms to coordinate dozens or potentially hundreds of biohybrid insects as a group. "With that algorithm we create, you can steer a whole swarm of insects towards a target. And that could be 10, that could be also, like, a hundred."

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Wilhelm added that the process is painless and that the insects' welfare is critical to their reliability. They have a good life in order to perform well in their missions.

SWARM Biotactics emerged during a period of heightened European security concerns, as Germany and its NATO allies expand defense initiatives in response to the war in Ukraine. Wilhelm said the cockroach-based systems provide a unique form of intelligence gathering because it can go to places where other types of technology otherwise couldn't go.

The startup is collaborating with the Bundeswehr, Germany's armed forces, to test how cockroach swarms perform in field operations. The current focus is on reconnaissance missions rather than any offensive capability.

Each cockroach in a swarm can carry different sensor types to enable tasks like localization and communication. Some cockroaches are more for the camera, some are more for communication, for positioning. The researchers triangulate between the swarms to get a good sense of where the swarm is exactly, if it's underground or denied areas, Wilhelm said.

Beyond defense applications, Wilhelm sees potential for rescue operations, where roaches could locate survivors in collapsed buildings. He said the company expects its first larger-scale deployments within 18 to 24 months.