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Robots and Insects get together at Sussex

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A new research centre is opening at the University, to bring together the insect brains of BIOLS and the artificial intelligence of COGS. Robot development has much to learn from the study of relatively simple nervous systems and our understanding of the central nervous system should gain a great deal from attempts to model it in robots.

Insects have more to offer than their brains. The idea that robots should have two legs and wander around in a state of chronic depression is a particularly human conceit. We have two legs because we are descended from fishes, via quadrupeds, and need hands. Robots do not need to be clobbered with the same evolutionary baggage. More limbs are better and insects offer a very neat design with six (they also have wings - in a rational world, angels should have evolved from insects).

All this has not escaped the notice of The X-files. A recent programme highlighted the potential of insect-like robots as future space explorers. It even went on to suggest that cockroaches (rather than the mice of the Hitchhikers' Guide) were explorers from other more advanced parts of the Universe.

The Centre for Computational Neuroscience and Robotics will be holding an inaugural workshop on Friday 24 January (see What's on).

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Friday January 17th 1997