| Clipped from: The Living Robot § SEEDMAGAZINE.COM |
Researchers have developed a robot capable of learning and interacting with the world using a biological brain.
Kevin Warwick’s new robot behaves like a child. “Sometimes it does what you want it to, and sometimes it doesn’t,” he says. And while it may seem strange for a professor of cybernetics to be concerning himself with such an unreliable machine, Warwick’s creation has something that even today’s most sophisticated robots lack: a living brain.
A relay of signals between the sensor, motors, and brain dictate the robot’s behavior. When it approaches an object, the number of electrical pulses sent from the sonar device to the brain increases. This heightened electrical stimulation causes certain neurons in the robot’s brain to fire. When the electrodes on which the firing neurons rest detect this activity, they signal the robot’s wheels to change direction. The end result is a robot that can avoid obstacles in its path.
| Clipped from: Exclusive: A robot with a biological brain | Emerging Technology Trends | ZDNet.com |
Exclusive: A robot with a biological brain
This new project is the first one to examine ‘how memories manifest themselves in the brain, and how a brain stores specific pieces of data.’ As life expectancy is increasing in most countries, this new research could provide insights into how the brain works and help aging people. In fact, the main goal of this project is to understand better the development of diseases and disorders which affect the brain such as Alzheimer or Parkinson diseases.
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These robots are developed at the Cybernetic Intelligence Research Group, part of the School of Systems Engineering at the University of Reading. The team has been led by Kevin Warwick, Professor of Cybernetics (please also check his personal home page.
| Clipped from: Cybernetic Intelligence Research Group - University of Reading |
Welcome to the Cybernetic Intelligence Research Group, part of the School of Systems Engineering at the University of Reading. Cybernetic intelligence is the study of intelligence and its application. It is an approach characterised by its emphasis on sub-symbolic knowledge representation and bottom-up (ie. data driven) problem solving. Cybernetic intelligence describes theoretical, mathematical and philosophical aspects of consciousness and intelligence and their application to the design of intelligent machines and the control of complex systems.
Sources:
- The Living Robot § SEEDMAGAZINE.COM
- Exclusive: A robot with a biological brain | Emerging Technology Trends | ZDNet.com
- Cybernetic Intelligence Research Group - University of Reading
Related:
- Biological Interfaces with Computer Systems - University of Reading
- Investigating the Computational Capacity of Cultured Neuronal Networks Using Maching Learning
- Kevin Warwick - Home Page
