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Science 16 November 2007:
Vol. 318. no. 5853, p. 1033
DOI: 10.1126/science.318.5853.1033a
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This Week in Science

Figure 1 Robotics offer new possibilities for studying and modulating animal behavior. Halloy et al. (p. 1155; see the news story by Pennisi) observed collective decision-making by mixed groups of cockroaches and autonomous minirobots. The robots, similar in size (though not in shape) to the cockroaches, were coated in a blend of cuticular hydrocarbons that mimic the natural cockroach cuticle. The robots and the insects made shared decisions regarding choice of shelter, and the robots could modulate the collective decision-making process and produce a behavior pattern--choice of an inappropriate shelter--not observed in groups of cockroaches alone. Thus, a small number of robots can change the global pattern by altering feedbacks between individuals in the system.

CREDIT: ULB AND EPFL




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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)