Scientists have fused robotic parts onto insects such as roaches, but now they’re trying to take what they learn from these creatures and translate these abilities into robotics.
The latest research focuses on the ability of ants to navigate around a feeding site. The Electronic Telegraph reports that biologists at Sussex University hope to take what they glean from the ants and improve the way robots feel their way along a route.
Observing the behavior of ants as they travel from their nests to a feeding site, Professors Simon Judd and Tom Collett found that the ants break down the route into segments and use the journey’s destination as a beacon. As the ant passes through each segment, it takes a visual snapshot of the landmarks in the area as well as the destination. While it is possible that an ant could find its way from a single snapshot, the researchers’ data indicate that the ants could file away the series of snapshots to piece together their route.
These snapshots help the ants find their targets more precisely –- so they won’t be thrown off by changes in the terrain. The findings are the first to suggest that ants navigate over long distances by breaking down the journey into smaller visual pieces.
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Chip-based systems get hot: Japanese chipmakers are shifting their focus to "systems-on-a-chip" that combine multiple computing functions and promise to improve their razor-thin profitability.
NEC said on Thursday that it would start mass production of systems-on-a-chip using a 0.15 micron to 0.18 micron process in early 1999. Hitachi, Mitsubishi Electric, and Oki Electric Industry have also announced plans to develop similar chip-based systems.
The advance to 0.15 to 0.18 micron etching technology from the current 0.25 will sharply cut the size of system-on-a-chip, enabling production that combines as many as 10 functions on a single silicon chip. The chips, for example, could combine the functions of a microprocessor, memory chips, embedded processors, and dedicated chips for telecom, imaging, and other products.
Demand for such products is expected to boom over the next few years as digital televisions, mobile phones, and a new generation of sophisticated, more compact household electronic products hits the market. Reaping these rewards will help the chipmakers soothe their bruises from the freefall in computer memory prices over the past two years.
