Robot Piloted by a Slime Mold 212
TeknoHog writes "Robotics researchers from the UK and Japan have linked up a slime mold to remotely control a six-legged robot. The mold, which is naturally light-sensitive, is able to hide the robot in dark corners, and the scientists expect to further this technology for use in smaller, autonomous units. There is also a preprint of the research paper available from the University of Southampton."
well, i for one welcome our... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:well, i for one welcome our... (Score:2)
well, at least they don't have to drill into a mammal's brain to do this one. The molds are cool though; a neighbor once panicked when a bright orange one appeared on wood chip mulch in his garden, until I told him what it was. "It's harmless and it eats bacteria" seems to be one of the more reassuring things you can tell someone about a creeping slime.
Re:well, i for one welcome our... (Score:2)
Well, whatever it was, I squished it.
Re:well, i for one squish our... (Score:3, Funny)
Re:well, i for one welcome our... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:well, i for one welcome our... (Score:3, Funny)
You know, basically a robot that sleeps all day then suddenly has to be in another room *right the hell now*.
Re:well, i for one welcome our... (Score:2)
The Slime Mold Hits You For 4 Pts... (Score:2, Funny)
Ooo! Ooo! I wanna do this one! (Score:2)
oh comon just say it... (Score:2)
It's like politicians directing civilization ... (Score:2, Insightful)
It wouldn't be such a big change, since since we already have slimy overlords.
At least real slime molds aren't susceptible to bribery and corruption, and have far higher competence in the area that they are directing.
Re:It's like politicians directing civilization .. (Score:2)
Leave it to the Abramoff's of the world. They'll find a way.
Re:well, i for one welcome our... lost stuff? (Score:3, Funny)
``Honey, where's the hammer?''
``Oddly enough, when I was vacuuming, I found it under the desk in the bedroom. I could have sworn it was scurrying.''
Re:well, i for one welcome our... lost stuff? (Score:5, Funny)
That's your problem. You only have one. My dad taught me (by example) that if you can't find a tool, it means you don't have enough instances of that tool and you need to buy another one. Once you have thirty or so hammers, you won't have any trouble finding one around the house within 5 minutes or so.
Same goes for socket sets, screw driver sets, drills, etc.
I must say... (Score:5, Funny)
That's nothing (Score:4, Funny)
Re:That's nothing (Score:2)
Re:That's nothing (Score:2, Insightful)
Lord Running Clam? (Score:2)
Klaus-Peter Zauner's most recent publication. (Score:4, Informative)
is there some reason that... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:is there some reason that... (Score:4, Interesting)
Simple:
"Robot controlled by light sensitive electronics seeks corner" gets a quick nod before someone realises eight year olds have been doing it with the basic Lego Mindstorms kit for years.
"Slime mold remotely controls six legged robot" gets the quirky and weird headlines. Quirky and weird headlines can be claimed as public interest. Public interest can be parlayed in to additional funding for your otherwise unfundable project.
So, whilst it's not really any more exciting, it does get the trivia audience - which gets the funding. Thus, for PhDs who can't get Google to hire them, it's essential to use a cockroach or slime mold or something similarly quirky to keep you in tweed jackets and leather elbow patches.
Re:is there some reason that... (Score:5, Insightful)
Think about it... a slime mold, while naturally light-avoidant, won't naturally know how to manipulate robotic appendages. Rather than sneering dismissively, you might realize this is a significant step forward to creating hardware and software that can directly interface with your nervous system. Such technology has many awesome as well as frightening implications.
wikipedia says... (Score:5, Informative)
Slime Moulds [wikipedia.org] are basically single celled organisms, and while they can achieve some interesting feats, they don't have a nervous system that could in any way be called central.
Fascinating things though... never knew anything about them before just now :)
Re:wikipedia says... (Score:3, Funny)
Re:wikipedia says... (Score:2)
Got that right. Canadians in the 80's had slime that reacted to the words "I don't know [imdb.com]".
Re:wikipedia says... (Score:2)
Re:is there some reason that... (Score:2)
They shone light on a slime mould, it moved, and they tracked the movement. This does *not* count as a biological interface. And as other posters have pointed out, robots that could do this have been around since the 80s. It's been a schoolkid-level project since at the latest 1990.
Grab.
interface with the nervous system.. (Score:2)
Re:is there some reason that... (Score:4, Insightful)
Our task is to learn from nature, and that is what is being done here. People might want this to be more exciting, but great research is basic. They took two systems that were well-studied and well-understood (light-sensitive robots and single-celled organisms), smooshed them together, and found out just how well (or not well) we understood them to begin with.
Re:is there some reason that... (Score:2)
It may be somewhat innovative, but the robot is simply using the mold as a light sensor and nothing more. They have been doing this in lab's for decades being able to read a cell's response to stimullation.
Re:is there some reason that... (Score:2)
Re:is there some reason that... (Score:1)
Re:is there some reason that... (Score:2)
Not impressed! (Score:5, Funny)
The mold in my shower has been doing this kinda stuff for years!
http://religiousfreaks.com/ [religiousfreaks.com]Re:Not impressed! (Score:5, Funny)
Doubly Not impressed! (Score:2)
Living brain controls flight simulator (Score:5, Interesting)
http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/11/02/brain.dish/ [cnn.com]
Re:Living brain controls flight simulator (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Living brain controls flight simulator (Score:2)
Biological sensors are and are not new... (Score:5, Interesting)
Already, they are training bees (in minutes) to sense out things that takes months of training for dogs. This type of bio-sensor systems will hopefully make such work even easier to achieve. I can see that one day, a search and rescue helicopter can drop a truck load of independent water robots that seek out and locate humans in the middle of the ocean, saving lives by finding them faster than current methods, and bio-sensors may be the ticket to such advances.
That's my take...
Re:Biological sensors are and are not new... (Score:3, Interesting)
What happens when a bio-sensor based robot walks into a cloud of chlorine gas? (e.g. chemical plant explosion/fire).
What about high-temperature environments?
What about cold/icy ones (e.g. avalanche)?
Radioactive areas? (e.g. dirty-bomb explosion)
Biological agents (viruses, pollen, etc)?
Wouldn't it also be difficult to maintain live cells in a machine? (e.g. what about food, water, oxygen, etc)?
Re:Biological sensors are and are not new... (Score:2, Interesting)
Can't think of a use right now, but a trained cockroach perhaps?
Re:Biological sensors are and are not new... (Score:2)
http://www.conceptlab.com/control/ [conceptlab.com]
Re:Biological sensors are and are not new... (Score:2, Funny)
Oh, great, just what I need. A pack of ra
Re:Biological sensors are and are not new... (Score:2)
Sensors picked up the light, and then lights in the chamber simulated that light for the slime mold.
There's not much point in using a biological sensor if you first record it on silicon then replay a replica of it.
This may be useful at some point, but as of now it seems pretty silly.
Re:Biological sensors are and are not new... (Score:2)
Re:Biological sensors are and are not new... (Score:2)
You have a good case with olfactory receptors being better in bio form than silicon, but it is almost certainly true that photoresistors are more sensitive to light than the slime. So why bother with it? (hint, the answer is grant money)
All this proves is that
pilot? (Score:2, Funny)
In other news... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:In other news... (Score:2)
Re:In other news... (Score:3, Funny)
I dunno, from what I hear the Element [honda.com] is selling pretty well.
meh (Score:5, Funny)
Employment Opportunity: (Score:4, Funny)
Currently most human beings and other vertebrates have declined the oportunity.
Perhaps dark seeking slime molds could fulfill this roll. Cephalopods could also apply.
Re:Employment Opportunity: (Score:2)
Re:Employment Opportunity: (Score:2)
Let me guess... (Score:3, Funny)
Just what we need (Score:5, Funny)
Am I the only one that finds this somewhat creepy?
Re:Just what we need (Score:2)
All the others were ambushed and killed by robots lurking in dark corners.
Re:Just what we need (Score:2)
Re:Just what we need (Score:2)
Instead we've got robots that say "Bite my moldy metal ass".
One of a kind.... (Score:5, Funny)
whoops.
They *WHAT* the mold? (Score:2)
Threw away the mold - 2,140 hits
Where do you people come up with this stuff? It's broke I say, broke!
Re:They *WHAT* the mold? (Score:2)
It wont be long (Score:2)
Re:It wont be long (Score:2)
Slime-controlled robot overlords can have my... (Score:4, Funny)
What they don't say (Score:2)
Doh... (Score:2, Funny)
Pffft...we've done better (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Pffft...we've done better (Score:2)
Is it fair to call Karl Rove a slime mold? Look what he's got to work with, he's doing the best he can.
Re:Pffft...we've done better (Score:2, Insightful)
*rolls eyes so hard they fall out of their sockets*
Cue Dr. Who music. (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Cue Dr. Who music. (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Cue Dr. Who music. (Score:3, Interesting)
It's not just a slime mold.. (Score:5, Funny)
Um... this sounds familiar... but from where?... (Score:5, Interesting)
You hit the slime mold.
The slime mold hits you.
The slime mold's robot hits you.
You hit the slime mold.
The slime mold hits you.
The slime mold's robot hits you.
You miss the slime mold.
The slime mold hits you.
The slime mold's robot hits you.
You are dead.
-hit spacebar for high scores-
Re:Um... this sounds familiar... but from where?.. (Score:2, Funny)
What do you want to eat? [b-h or ?*] h
My, that was a yummy slime mold!
Re:Um... this sounds familiar... but from where?.. (Score:5, Funny)
What do you want to throw? [adfh or ?*] h
In which direction? 6
The slime mold hits the robot.
The slime mold takes control of the robot!
The robot hits!
Need some turtles now... (Score:2, Funny)
I seem to remember (Score:2)
I am the controller (Score:2)
Me, being in charge of personell, am generally viewed as slime, and I generally view my subjects as six-legged robots. So doing the math I fail to see this inovation as something more than curcumspect.
Poor guy is going to get his research hijacked (Score:3, Funny)
It's just a matter of time before Davros hijacks his research to create the Daleks.
I'd welcome our new overlords, but... (Score:2)
Serious comment (Score:2)
Re:Serious comment (Score:2)
the real question.. (Score:2, Interesting)
Coming soon... (Score:5, Funny)
Sorry, that's all I have.
Already predicted! (Score:3, Funny)
Holy Crap (Score:2, Funny)
Should I be shitting myself right about now?
That's nothing (Score:2)
Eh What? You say Battlebots is on the air again? (Score:2)
Road rage (Score:2)
This is WWII technology (they used pigeons). (Score:2)
It was never deployed, but it worked more than half the time in test runs... how good are today's "precision" munitions?
They built a Dalek? (Score:2)
Killer ninja slime robots? (Score:2)
Nethack (Score:2)
Bah, this is nothing new... (Score:2)
Re:One's in office (Score:4, Funny)
Re:I for one... (Score:2)