Cockroaches may be seen as pests to most people, but to North Carolina State University researchers, they possess a combination of size and resilience that make them perfect biobots – cyborgs controlled by tiny gadgetry installed on their backs.

The biobots could be especially useful in disaster zones as they could be equipped with tiny microphones. In one scenario, a single multi-dimensional microphone would transmit information wirelessly to first responders, according to The Atlantic. In another, microphones could be used to “detect the location of the sound to innately direct the biobot in that direction.”

According to Dr. Alper Bozkurt, an assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at NCSU, “in a collapsed building, sound is the best way to find survivors.”

Bozkurt and his team still have a way to go in refining how cyborg cockroaches can actually prove useful in the field.

“The goal is to use the biobots with high-resolution microphones to differentiate between sounds that matter, “ Bozkurt said. “Once we’ve identified sounds that matter, we can use the biobots equipped with microphone arrays to zero in on where those sounds are coming from.”

Cyborg cockroaches drew the ire of the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) last year when a company sold RoboRoach kits as a learning toy for $100, according to The Atlantic.