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#1
11-16-04, 04:08 PM
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http://www.news.com.au/common/story_...E13762,00.html Robots to rid us of cockroaches From The Times' Adam Sage in Paris November 16, 2004 IT behaves like a cockroach. It smells like a cockroach. It is accepted by other cockroaches. But it is not a cockroach. It is a robot and scientists say its invention is a breakthrough in mankind's struggle to control the animal kingdom. The robot, InsBot, developed by researchers in France, Belgium and Switzerland, is capable of infiltrating a group of cockroaches, influencing them and altering their behaviour. Within a decade, its inventors believe, it will be leading the unwanted pests out of dark kitchen corners, to where they can be eliminated. But this is only the first of the applications for a pioneering program that has scientists dreaming out loud. They say they will soon be using robots to stop sheep jumping off cliffs and to encourage chickens to take exercise. The initial task, carried out by the Centre for Research on the Cognition of Animals in Toulouse, France, was to analyse cockroach behaviour. A student spent three years filming the insects and making a computer program that reproduced their movements. The study showed that cockroaches, like ants, are egalitarian creatures, without a group leader. They congregate as a result of a "collective intelligence" that depends upon interaction within the group. "Cockroaches like contact with each other. When they meet, they stay still. They are happy to be with a friend for a few moments. The more friends around them, the longer they stay," said project co-ordinator Jean-Louis Deneubourg. The second stage of the €2 million ($3.3 million) program, called Leurre, was to build a robot capable of detecting cockroaches, of moving like them and of becoming inactive in the dark. InsBot, which is green, the size of a matchbox and equipped with lasers and a light sensor, was developed by Switzerland's Federal Polytechnic School in Lausanne. When it bumps into a cockroach, it does what they do: it stops moving. The more cockroaches that approach it, the longer it remains stationary. The third stage, undertaken by the French Centre for Scientific Research in Brittany, was to isolate the molecules that give cockroaches their smell - to create a cockroach perfume - and to spray it on the robot. Early next year Professor Deneubourg hopes to publish findings that demonstrate InsBot's capacity to modify its friends' behaviour. His experiments place cockroaches in a space that contains two shelters - one dark, one light. Naturally, they gather in the dark shelter, where they feel comfortable. But if the robots go to the light shelter, cockroaches follow - the desire for companionship proving stronger than the need for dark. "It is plausible and realistic to imagine that in five or 10 years time, people with a cockroach infestation will be buying robots to get rid of them," Professor Deneubourg said. Other applications are also envisaged for the computer programs developed under the Leurre project. Guy Theraulaz, CRCA director of research, said it may be possible to build chicken-like robots that will be used to stimulate poultry. "A lot of chickens don't move at all and die as a result. They need to be encouraged to run around. Robots could do that," he said. Another area of research involves sheep. In mountainous regions when one sheep jumps off a cliff to escape a predator, the others tend to follow - with the result that the whole flock dies. Dr Theraulaz believes his team will soon be able to identify flock leaders and give them collars equipped with receivers. They will then train these sheep to stand still - or move - when the receivers emit a signal such as a sound or an electric shock.
__________________ can you count suckas can you count      |
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#4
11-16-04, 04:34 PM
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Robot spray you knit-wit : )
__________________ can you count suckas can you count |
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#5
11-16-04, 05:06 PM
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#8
11-17-04, 07:55 AM
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*shiver* ugh, roaches..I'd do anything to get rid of those things. But a robotic cockroach? Thats a little eerie too. |
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#9
11-17-04, 08:43 AM
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Just imagine, you are sleeping, and your T-100 model of the Cockroach terminator is sitting on your nose, to report back, you open your eyes and you see 1 red laser-eye looking down at you.
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#10
11-17-04, 01:54 PM
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#11
11-17-04, 03:02 PM
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cockroach terminator  |
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