[extropy-chat] Cockrobches

[Damien Broderick]

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,11399015%255E601,00.html


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 E2 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.

The Times