Brittle Stars inspire new generation robots able to adapt to physical damage
Researchers at Tohoku University and Hokkaido University have, for the first time, succeeded in developing a robot capable of immediately adapting to unexpected physical damage.
This is a significant breakthrough as robots are increasingly expected to function in tough environments under hazardous conditions.
Conventional robots tend to require a considerable amount of time (several tens of seconds) to adapt when they incur unexpected physical damage. To address this problem, researchers led by Professor Akio Ishiguro of the Research Institute of Electrical Communication at Tohoku University, focused on a brittle star – a primitive echinoderm with five flexible arms. Brittle stars lack a sophisticated central nervous system, yet are able to immediately adapt to an arbitrary loss of their arms and still move by coordinating the remaining arms.
(a) Overview of a brittle star (left) and photographs of locomotion when it lost one of its arms (right). (b) Overview of the brittle star-like robot PENTABOT II (left) and photographs of locomotion when one of the arms was destroyed (right). The robot could keep moving by coordinating the remaining arms appropriately.
Based on behavioral experiments involving brittle stars whose arms were amputated in various ways, the researchers proposed a simple decentralized control mechanism in which each arm kicks the ground only when it obtains an assistive reaction force. This mechanism was implemented in a brittle star-like robot to demonstrate that it can adapt to unexpected physical damage within a few seconds, like its biological model.
Schematic of the proposed control scheme. First, each arm moves randomly to obtain a response from the environment. If the reaction force assists propulsion, the arm pushes itself against the ground, after which the arm lifts off from the ground and moves forward. When the reaction force impedes propulsion, no further action is generated.
The researchers hope that this finding will help develop resilient robots that can work in inhospitable environments such as disaster areas. It also provides insights into the essential mechanism underlying resilient animal locomotion.
Learn more: Brittle Stars inspire new generation robots able to adapt to physical damage
The Latest on: Adaptive robots
- Securing Machine Identities Needs to Be a Top Cybersecurity Goal In 2021on March 1, 2021 at 3:50 pm
Bad actors quickly capitalize on the wide gaps in machine identity security, creating one of the most breachable threat surfaces today. Why Machines Are the Most Challenging Threat Surface To Protect ...
- Can a robot operate effectively underwater?on March 1, 2021 at 4:25 am
Sea stars are incredibly adaptive, said Luhar, assistant professor in the USC ... Understanding such shape shifting could help design underwater robots that can similarly adapt to extreme hydrodynamic ...
- Novel soft tactile sensor with skin-comparable characteristics for robots (w/video)on March 1, 2021 at 1:04 am
A robotic gripper with the sensor mounted at the fingertip could accomplish challenging tasks such as stably grasping fragile objects and threading a needle.
- Novel soft tactile sensor with skin-comparable characteristics for robotson February 28, 2021 at 4:00 pm
A joint research team co-led by City University of Hong Kong (CityU) has developed a new soft tactile sensor with skin-comparable characteristics. A robotic gripper with the sensor mounted at the ...
- Amazon Echo Show 10 review: A smart display on the moveon February 24, 2021 at 7:08 am
Amazon's newest smart display is its creepiest and most capable yet. Back in 2017, we reviewed Jibo, an adorable half smart display half robot thing, that swirled around its motorized base to interact ...
- 7 Amazing Kitchen and Home Deals You Can’t Afford to Miss Todayon February 24, 2021 at 5:00 am
If you’re looking for the best kitchen and home deals, but you’re short on time, you’re in luck. We’ve tracked down seven amazing kitchen and home deals from across the internet that you simply can’t ...
- Roomba 675 is down to $250 at Amazon, or save $250 on the self-emptying Roomba i6+on February 23, 2021 at 11:44 am
Anyone looking for an entry-level robot vacuum who wants to shell out as little money as possible should check out the surprisingly good SYSPERL V10 robot vacuum that only costs $84. If ...
- Globant Research Shows Four Ways To Thrive In The Future Of Workon February 22, 2021 at 6:00 am
In 2020, it became very clear that most organizations lacked the culture, technological, and operational agility to respond to change. How are leaders adapting to the future of work in 2021?
- 2021 Lexus RX 350L Review: “L” for Lengthon February 21, 2021 at 11:28 am
The Lexus RX remains at the top of the midsize luxury crossover class that Lexus helped first create. With the long "L" version, Lexus now caters to families needing an extra two seats for smaller ...
- Physicists discover new route to active matter self-organisationon February 19, 2021 at 7:59 am
An international team led by Professor Yilin Wu, Associate Professor of the Department of Physics at The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) has made a novel conceptual advance in the field of ...
via Google News and Bing News
