maybe the Georgia Tech guys
don’t get out much. In any event,
according to Daniel Goldman,
assistant professor in the School of
Physics (
www.physics.gatech.edu),
“Sand is a uniquely challenging
terrain because it can shift quite
easily from solid to fluid to solid
and requires different locomotion
strategies.”
Experiments were conducted by
placing a device with six C-shaped
legs on an eight-foot trackway filled
with poppy seeds, which simulates
conditions that might be found in
deserts, extraterrestrial surfaces, and
a number of agricultural operations in
Afghanistan.
The result? “We have discovered
that when a robot rotates its legs too
fast or the sand is packed loosely
enough, the robot transitions from a
rapid walking motion to a much
slower swimming motion.”
The researchers discovered that
the bot can easily traverse the grit if
it maintains a constant rpm and
some parameters are properly
adjusted: the durations of the slow
and fast phases and the angle at
which each limb changes from slow
to fast. But in a pinch, you can just
pour some water on the sand.
Robot Darwinism?
In a curiously abstruse press
release, researchers at Aberdeen,
Scotland’s Robert Gordon University
(
www.rgu.ac.uk) claim to have
“caused a stir in the world of
engineering by taking the first steps
in developing a robot that has the
ability to evolve in the same way as
animals.” They say that the technique
“offers the potential to make
machines which can interact with
their environment and perform useful
tasks in difficult or dangerous circumstances — or even around the home.
It does this by gradually
Skippy the mudskipper.
Courtesy of the Aquarium of the
Pacific; photo by Hugh Ryono.
developing the robot’s body and
environment from simple to complex,
while at the same time growing its
brain (a special control circuit called
an `artificial neural network’) by
adding new parts — one on top of the
other — to end up with a structure
rather like the layers of an onion.
Using this system researchers
have produced a complex robot. The
robot started off pulling itself along
in a primitive way — rather like a
`robotic mudskipper’ — and then
went through a series of developing
body plans, actuators, sensors, and
environments until it had evolved into
a walking quadruped, able to react
to visual stimuli, avoid obstacles,
and react to predefined objects as
`predators’ or `prey.’
Unfortunately, no details were
offered as to how it accomplishes
such evolutionary upgrades, and
there were no accompanying photos
that might give us a clue. But the
announcement inadvertently posed a
much more interesting question:
“What the heck is a mudskipper?”
For a fascinating answer, visit www.
aquariumofpacific.org/online
learningcenter/species/mudskip
per. This is evolution at its best.
Morose, Rejected Fauxbots
The way the yarn goes, 100
Robytes
The Mellowtron stuffed robot in need
of Prozac®. Photo by Bill Brown.
Mellowtron robots (not to be
confused with the Mellotron
tape-loop keyboards employed by
the Moody Blues et al. back in the
good ol’ days) were created and sold
as service robots. But the only service
they were designed to perform was
to dream all day.
When their owners discovered
that the Mellowtrons could not cook,
clean out the cat box, or otherwise
assist around the house, they were
all fired, sent back to the factory,
and dumped in a warehouse
where they are now idle, sad, and
confused.
If this somehow brings a tear to
your eye, be advised that you can
adopt one of the little slackers by
logging onto
www.stuffedrobot.
com and shelling out $70 (plus
S&H). Although they all look exactly
the same, each one professes to
have its own story and personality.
No. 32, for example, has trouble
distinguishing between reality and
his dreams. No. 47 gets his feelings
hurt if everyone doesn’t say “hi” to
him. And so on.
As of this writing, 43 of them
have already found homes, but you
might still get one if you hurry. Or,
even if you don’t hurry. SV
SERVO 04.2009
9