In order for the robotic cockroach to wiggle through crevices just like its organic brethren, the robot cockroach has been endowed with a rounded back, hence making it automatically a whole lot better to get through narrow gaps. Chen Li from the University of California, Berkeley, and his team, pursued the idea of having a modified body so that it can navigate through tight spaces, rather than the introduction of more sensors or motors which would complicate things further. This just goes to show how some of the more elegant solutions are also simple ones.
Would you like a robot cockroach as a pet? Perhaps one outfitted with a video camera and microphone that can relay secrets would be useful in terms of intelligence gathering…