Roaches Make Better Robots

Posted by Dell_Lounge on Monday, Jan 11, 2010

Scientists study the movement of different animals to search for new ways to make robots move by themselves. One that might lead to a breakthrough is our creepy little friend, the cockroach. John Schmitt (an assistant professor at OSU) studied the bionics of these dirty pests in order to find a way to help robots move on rough terrain. Why did their effortless movements through our restaurants and kitchen floors suddenly become an interest to him?

His idea is literally a no-brainer. When cockroaches run, they don’t have to think about it. Their muscles and movement are completely instinctive, lacking any sort of reflex. With help from this “bioinspiration,” robots may eventually be able to breeze through any challenging terrain without having to use any CPU. Sure, they have the ability to run today, but this could potentially make those movements look like baby steps.

Who knows what can come about from combining the traits of two different things? College students do it for fun with offbeat hybrid sports, and some of us do it to Auto-tune the world on YouTube. If you can’t come up with something on your own, try working together with a group, and let the ideas flow.

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Mason about 1 month ago

robot bugs - shudder.
itsceegee about 1 month ago

i hate the way roaches crawl on the ground. gives me the heebie jeebies to think of robots crawlin around like that. eeeghh
listenn2slayer about 1 month ago

ew one was in my apartment and had wings and i died inside. just a little bit.
AlligatorDDT about 1 month ago

i hate hybrid sports.
mouseface about 1 month ago

effortless movements? i believe they have a plan...little roaches..ugh
sputnikchickBUSHWICK about 1 month ago

i wish i could run and not think about it. i'd be a track star for sure
jesuischaud about 1 month ago

DISGUSTING
storstygg about 1 month ago

... and is that actually a ROACH or a water bug? I know there is some confusion out there in the world.
modtechmod about 1 month ago

if i had a penny for each time someone asked me that at my house
Giga_Please about 1 month ago

I still want to know how they climb on ceilings and walls better than Spiderman could ever dream of.

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The Dell Lounge is an entertainment-based site that highlights everything from hybrid sports to up-and-coming artists. We also throw tons of contests that place your talents in the limelight and gi...