Catching sight of a cockroach tends to make us behave chaotically, what with the running and screaming and throwing of shoes. But it appears that chaos might actually explain how we, and the cockroach itself, behave.
An interdisciplinary team of scientists from Germany have created a robotic cockroach that autonomously behaves in a way reminiscent of a real cockraoch. The robot independently changes gait depending on the surface it is walking on, avoids obstacles and can even extricate its leg from a hole or run away from predators. Recreating lifelike behaviour is not new, but this robot reproduces a huge range of behaviours and quickly reacts to new situations and switch between them. And the secret to its success is controlled chaos in its robotic brain.
posted by Rachel @ 10:40 AM
- At 1:13 PM, Harry van der Velde said...
This is the way nature works and robots and other devices will follow. So chaos inflicts creativity: Rondom efforts. COOL
- At 6:34 PM, Quantum_Flux said...
Oh crap, I'd better hurry and patent my idea soon, it seems like everybody else in the world is getting too close to it for comfort.