quote:

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Garnet Hertz, a graduate student at the University of California, Irvine has given a roach a car.

The idea, he says, is to take a novel approach to the problem of robotic navigation. In the past, robots have not been particularly adroit; getting from Point A to Point B can be arduous, and navigation systems cumbersome and complex.

Mr. Hertz, a Fulbright scholar from Canada, was inspired by robotics pioneers like Rodney Brooks of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who have suggested that robot intelligence should resemble that of roaches and other insects that react quickly and instinctively to their environment.

Mr. Hertz said the project extended work in biological mimicry, but added: "It's a little bit of a joke. It's meant to say, 'If all this bio-inspired stuff is so great, why don't you just use the biology and cut to the chase?' "

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Here's the rest from the NY Times...

[edited to fix screwed-up quote]

[ 08 June 2005: Message edited by: Hephaestion ]