Newsgroups: comp.robotics
Path: brunix!sgiblab!cgl!cgl.ucsf.edu!french
From: french@socrates.ucsf.edu (Don French)
Subject: Re: Insect robots
Message-ID: <french.754022559@cgl.ucsf.edu>
Lines:       28
Sender: news@cgl.ucsf.edu (USENET News System)
Organization: UCSF Computer Graphics Lab
References: <1993Nov22.221615.23477@usl.edu>
Distribution: comp.robotics
Date: Tue, 23 Nov 1993 02:42:39 GMT

ek@swamp.cacs.usl.edu (Enrique Vicente Kortright) writes:

>We are interested in references to research and development work
>on insect-like robots. We would like to build an insect robot
>and use it to prototype strategies for coordination based on neural
>networks and genetic algorithms. Specifically,

>- Is there a robot that we can easily replicate (inexpensively)?
>- What is the architecture of the legs of such a robot and
>  how are the movements of the legs coordinated?
>- Is there any work on leg movement by "muscles"?
>- What kinds of processors are suitable for building self-contained
>  robots of this kind?
>- How successful is the use of neural networks to achieve coordination?
>- Since coordination in an actual insect (or any organism for that matter)
>  seems to be low-level and localized to specific zones, how is hierarchical
>  coordination achieved? How are groups of neural networks coordinated?
>- How are the characteristics of the robot encoded in the neural network
>  used for coordination?

>We would really appreciate any pointers on how to build even a simple
>insect robot.

For a very simple robot check out the Stiquito from Mondotronics.  I think
their address is in the FAQ under muscle wires.  Might be less than you are
looking for.  But maybe not.


