V's Chocolate covered Robots

[Terrance Flaherty]

Robotic vision


 Two papers in this week's issue of Nature push forward
 the task of creating robots which mimic the way living
 creatures evolve and behave. 

 Lipson and Pollack report a system which designs,
 'evolves' and manufactures simple robots with almost no
 human intervention. A computer simulation using genetic
 algorithms which mutate a simple body plan was used to
 design robots capable of horizontal motion. The computer
 system could then test these simulations in the physical
 world by building the robots using a rapid-prototyping
 technology. In an accompanying News and Views article
 Rodney Brooks explains how this research contributes to
 the development of self-evolving machines. 

 In a separate study Krieger et al show that robots
 programmed to co-operate in an ant-like manner are able to
 complete a foraging task in a more efficient manner than
 single robots. Their Khepera robots were found to recruit
 assistance from other robots, in the same way ants
 co-operate to gather food, when they came across a
 resource cluster. 

 Both sets of robots can be seen in action by following the
 links to the supplementary information provided by the
 authors. 


Now don't talk to me about the polar bear
Don't talk to me about the ozone layer
Ain't much of anything these days, even the air
They're running out of rhinos, what do I care?
Let's hear it for the dolphins, let's hear it for the trees
Ain't running out of nothing in my deep freeze
It's casual entertaining, we aim to please
At my siege parties, all right, do what you please
At my siege parties, all right....