By CNET News.com staff, 20 November 2007 12:39
Researchers, led by José Halloy at the Free University of Brussels, used a roachy scent to trick the insects into thinking of the otherwise alien robots as fellow roaches.
They used roaches in the first place because they're fairly egalitarian creatures that don't go in for the social stratification found in beehives and ant colonies. The robots themselves were programmed to replicate certain cockroach behaviours.
The test area was about three feet in diameter and a pair of red plastic discs served to create darker areas. The test group consisted of 16 roaches.
Photo credit: Courtesy of José Halloy/Free University of Brussels
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