In 2006, DARPA studied cockroaches as a robotics platform. They soon learned that cockroaches have a mind of their own, and will ignore implanted directions (via electrical stimuli) after ~30min. this makes them unsuitable for spy missions, but it triggered interest in the neurobiology community as a new model organism.
Cockroaches have a simple body plan, and have their processing spread around the body. With some basic surgery, a cockroach can be turned into a robot by attaching the antenna to current, you can make a cockroach go left/right
The first workshop for building your own cyborg was this weekend. my specimen didn’t pass final QC because i didn’t secure the antenna cables securely enough, and the cockroach disconnected 😦 
Gregor J. Rothfuss 