Robots Assimilate Into Cockroach Society

sufijazz writes "Scientists have gotten tiny robots to not only integrate into cockroach society but also control it. 'This experiment in bug peer pressure combined entomology, robotics and the study of ways that complex and even intelligent patterns can arise from simple behavior. Animal behavior research shows that swarms working together can prosper where individuals might fail, and robotics researchers have been experimenting with simple robots that, together, act a little like a swarm.' The BBC also has a video story on this."

Pied Piper anyone?

[cp.tar]

I wonder, if robots can actually control swarms, could we perhaps make them lead the swarms not to world domination, but to some sort of... mishap?

There's gotta be some way to get rid of them.

So...

[Kjella]

...does this mean that the robots have passed the Turing test [wikipedia.org] for cockroaches? I guess probably not yet, but if we can create robots that can act like the real thing - well that's pretty much the definition of it isn't it?

Re:Let's get this out of the way.

[Dusty101]

If we can now, indirectly control them, shouldn't read:

"I, for one, welcome our new insect minions"?

Re:Simple...

[binarybum]

umm, no. the first time that happened was when the doll was invented, and it's been going on ever since. [realdoll.com]

Do they have salami in Brussels?

[memorycardfull]

I don't see how the experiment described in the NYT story demonstrated anything other than cockroaches prefer dark places that smell like sex. The robots are "doused" with sex hormones. The way the experiment is presented presupposes that the hormones function to identify the robots as cockroaches to the other roaches. The conclusions drawn in the article present the behavior of the roaches in going where the robots are as imitation of peer behavior. The action of the robots is described as leading the others. It seems to me that the roaches' behavior is more simply explained by attraction to the sex hormones on the robots. Seems to me the experiment just proves that some roaches will abandon a dark hiding place for sexytime, but I am not an entomologist. I make sandwiches. I bet you would get very similar results if instead of using sex hormones, you rubbed a slice of salami on the robots. Do they have salami in Brussels? They should try it.