Robots Simulate Evolution
The robot named Madeline is pictured above. She is one of the robots currently being studied at Vassar College’s labs to further students’ understanding of the kind of evolution that took place over 500 million years ago. By mimicking subtle changes in the animal’s skeletal structure or appendages, the students are observing which changes are working better in a simulated predator/prey environment, and thus modeling the process of natural selection.
Take a moment to consider how fascinating this use of robotics is. There has hitherto been no way to study these long extinct creatures accurately with respect to physical changes. Computer simulation programs are fallible, and do not afford the researcher the chance to observe the results. Robotics changes all of that! The popularity of this method of biological simulation in the study of evolution is becoming widespread as the science of robotics progresses because the movement of robots is becoming increasingly organic and fine-tunable.
“At Harvard University, George Lauder, professor of organismic and evolutionary biology, studies fish locomotion with the aid of robotic fins. He says scientists are not trying to build spitting images of animals, but rather to mimic certain characteristics – a fin or a spinal column – to study how they work. Scientists then alter that characteristic to see how it affects performance…’The thing about robots is, robots can’t violate the laws of physics,’ he said. ‘A computer program can.’ Lauder said there’s no substitute for building a device that can replicate the minutely complex features of an animal. He expects the rise of robots in biological research to accelerate as more advances are made.” source
Check out this video to see the Vassar College students at work!
Posted in Real Life Robots, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
November 12th, 2009 at 6:01 pm
These aren’t the only robots imitating life – check out their evolution at The Robot Pet Shop, http://www.BuyRobotPets.com.
Great site, by the way!