Moth Drives Robot: Japanese Scientists Create Insect-Guided Vehicle (Video)

It's a far cry from Godzilla's nemesis Mothra, but scientists in Japan have created a tiny robot controlled by a male moth.

"The moths were able to steer by standing on a rotating ball," writes CNET. "Moving the ball directed the small two-wheeled robotic vehicle, which looks like a collection of leftover plastic parts and electronics bits. They were placed in a small arena with the pheromone scent on the other end and let loose to track down its location."

Silkmoths were chosen because males are particularly sensitive to pheromones.

"The male silkmoth was chosen as the driver of the robot due to its characteristic 'mating dance' when reacting to the sex pheromone of the female," writes Forbes. "Once the male is stimulated by the pheromone it exhibits a distinctive walking pattern: straight-line and zigzagged walking consisting of several turns followed by a loop of more than 360°."

By carefully examining the way the moth controls the robot, scientists hope to gain insight into the inner workings of its brain, which should aid them in designing a robot modeled on the moth.

"The simple and robust odor tracking behavior of the silkmoth allows us to analyse its neural mechanisms from the level of a single neuron to the moth's overall behavior," said Noriyasu Ando, lead author of the study.

"By creating an 'artificial brain' based on the knowledge of the silkmoth's individual neurons and tracking behavior we hope to implement it into a mobile robot that will be equal to the insect-controlled robot developed in this study."

Don't worry, Mothra protected the Earth from the depredations of Godzilla and other monsters. I'm sure everything will be fine.