Cyborg Cockroaches Get 3D-Printed Diving Suits for Underwater Rescue

Cockroaches can squeeze through tiny gaps, scramble over debris, and run for hours on almost no energy. Those traits make them surprisingly attractive to engineers trying to build small rescue robots. The problem is that underwater, they die within minutes.

A research team from Nanyang Technological University and Waseda University solved that with a 3D-printed scuba suit. The flexible shell fits around the cockroach's abdomen and delivers oxygen directly to its breathing holes. Suited insects stayed active underwater for up to three hours. Without the suit, they survived about two minutes.

A suit printed around one insect at a time

The team used Madagascar hissing cockroaches because they are hardy and easy to work with. Each suit had to be custom-fitted. The shell wraps around the abdomen, separate from the control backpack that steers movement. A 3D-printed oxygen tank made from transparent PMMA resin holds a sponge soaked in hydrogen peroxide. That reaction generates oxygen, which travels through tiny silicone tubes straight to the insect's spiracles.

Every connector was printed for that specific cockroach. The two pairs of breathing holes are not identical, so each needed its own seal. That would have been impossible to tool in metal or injection molding in any practical way. 3D printing was the only route that made sense.

From search and rescue to infrastructure inspection

This is not a lab-only demo. Sato's cyborg insects have already been deployed in real operations, including after the magnitude-7.7 earthquake in Myanmar in March 2025. The team calls the project Operation Lionheart. The next step is infrastructure inspection: sending suited insects into collapsed buildings or flooded tunnels where humans and conventional robots cannot easily go.

The researchers also believe the suit concept could transfer to other insects. Locusts and beetles use the same spiracle-based breathing system, so a redesigned version could work on them too. For now, the focus is on making the suits durable enough for repeated field use and scaling the process beyond a handful of insects at a time.