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June 1, 2005

Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine

conceptlab.jpg"Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine" is a cockroach-controlled mobile robot system. The system uses a living Madagascan hissing cockroach atop a modified trackball to control the three-wheeled robot. Infrared sensors also provide navigation feedback to create a semi-intelligent system, with the cockroach as the CPU.

Designer Garnet Hertz - a University of California, Irvine, graduate student enrolled in the school's interdisciplinary arts, computer, and engineering program - explains that as the roach moves on the ball, she controls the movement of the robot. When sensors detect an immobile object ahead, such as a wall, a bright light flashes at the cockroach. As she scuttles away from the light, the robot moves away from the wall.

Source: Garnet Hertz, 02 December 2004, Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine.
http://www.conceptlab.com/control/

Spotted by CJL.

Posted by sjc at June 1, 2005 10:37 AM

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