There is still a long way to go before artificial mini robots are really used for search and rescue missions in disaster-hit areas due to hindrance in power consumption, computation load of the locomotion, and obstacle-avoidance system. Insect-computer hybrid system, which is the fusion of living insect platform and microcontroller, emerges as an alternative solution. This study demonstrates the first-ever insect-computer hybrid system conceived for search and rescue missions, which is capable of autonomous navigation and human presence detection in an unstructured environment. Customized navigation control algorithm utilizing the insect's intrinsic navigation capability achieved exploration and negotiation of complex terrains. On-board high-accuracy human presence detection using infrared camera was achieved with a custom machine learning model. Low power consumption suggests system suitability for hour-long operations and its potential for realization in real-life missions.

翻译：由于电力消耗障碍、行动负荷计算和障碍避险系统,在受灾地区实际使用人工微型机器人进行搜索和救援任务还有很长的路要走。昆虫计算机混合系统是活昆虫平台和微控制器的结合,作为一种替代解决方案出现。这项研究展示了为搜索和救援任务设想的首个昆虫计算机混合系统,该系统能够在无结构的环境中进行自主导航和人的存在探测。利用昆虫固有的导航能力定制导航控制算法实现了对复杂地形的探索和谈判。使用红外摄像头在船上高精度人的存在探测是用定制机器学习模型完成的。低功率消耗表明系统适合小时操作及其在现实任务中实现的潜力。