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We humans think we’re pretty smart. Sometimes we can use help from the animals. Animalbots, today on Engineering Works!
Many – maybe most – robots in use today have a big problem. They work fine in the lab or on a factory floor. But when you try to move them out into the real world, they get into trouble.
Engineers are finding that animals can give them valuable suggestions on how to make robots that work.
The idea is not that the new robots look like animals or solve problems the same way, but that they do the same things. It’s a big difference. For instance, a robot designed to move like a crab uses only four motors to control each leg. Engineers had expected they’d have to use 18 motors because crabs use 18 muscles to move each leg. Four is simpler and accomplishes the same thing.
Likewise, most robots depend on high-powered computer processing and arrays of sensors to understand and deal with the environment around them. Animal-inspired robots often use a simpler approach. When a sophisticated robot gets into a tight place, its computer tries to figure out what’s going on and what to do about it. When animals get into tight places, they don’t think much. They keep wiggling and squirming and eventually they get out.
Animalbots do the same thing. They just keep moving until they get free.
You can’t see us, but we’re starting to wiggle. Time to go. We’ll see you later.
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