This Climbing Robot Cockroach Gives Me Heebie Jeebies

Whenever I see a cockroach scampering around I don’t even think, I just stomp the shit out of it. HOWEVAH. If I saw this freaking robot cockroach climbing my walls, I’d shriek and freak out like a little baby. This thing is seriously scary.

This vertical climbing robot is called the CLASH and was designed by the crazies at UC Berkeley. Check out the stats on this roach: it’s 10 centimeters long, weighs 15 grams, has tiny spiny toes on its feet and moves at a spine tingling 9.44 inches a second. That’s faster than you think. It can move that fast because the motor in CLASH powers the four legs at 34 strides per second. A lotta little steps!

But man, can you imagine a room filled with these? That would be torture. [UC Berkeley via IEEE Spectrum]