12 November 2009

Robot rat wins top science award

SCRATCHbot, an innovative robot rat developed by Bristol Robotics Laboratory (BRL) and the University of Sheffield, has been named in the list `Best of What´s New´ published by Popular Science magazine.

SCRATCHbot was chosen from thousands of products reviewed by the editors of Popular Science to find the top 100 tech innovations of the year. The winning product or technology must represent a significant step forward in its category.

The SCRATCHbot is a unique robot rat which can seek out and identify objects using its whiskers. The research is being developed by BRL, (a partnership between the University of the West of England and the University of Bristol) and the Active Touch Laboratory at the University of Sheffield under the pan-european "ICEA" project to develop biologically-inspired artificial intelligence systems.

The new technology has been inspired by the use of touch in the animal kingdom. For some nocturnal creatures, or some that inhabit poorly-lit places, this physical sense is widely preferred to vision as a primary means of discovering the world. Rats are especially effective at exploring their environments using their whiskers. They are able to accurately determine the position, shape and texture of objects using precise rhythmic sweeping movements of their whiskers, make rapid accurate decisions about objects, and then use the information to build environmental maps.

Robot designs often rely on vision to identify objects, but this new technology relies solely on sophisticated touch technology, enabling the robot to function in spaces such as dark or smoke-filled rooms, where vision cannot be used.

Professor Tony Prescott, from the University of Sheffield said: "We held a workshop earlier this year at the University of Sheffield in which we were able to demonstrate the unique properties of the SCRATCHbot and the direction of our research in the development of actively-controlled, whisker-like sensors for intelligent machines. Although touch sensors are already employed in robots, the use of touch as a principal modality has been overlooked until now. By developing these biomimetic robots, we are not just designing novel touch-sensing devices, but also making a real contribution to understanding the biology of tactile sensing."

Dr Tony Pipe, from the Bristol Robotics Lab, said: "For a long time, vision has been the main biological sense most studied by scientists. But active touch sensing is a key focus for those of us looking at biological systems which have implications for robotics research. Sensory systems such as rats' whiskers have particular advantages. In humans, where sensors are at the fingertips, they are more vulnerable to damage and injury than whiskers. Rats have the ability to operate with damaged whiskers, and broken whiskers on robots could be easily replaced, without affecting the whole robot and its expensive engineering. This award is a welcome recognition that our research is a leap forward for technology in this area."

Mark Jannot, Editor-in-Chief of Popular Science said: "For 22 years, Popular Science has honored the innovations that surprise and amaze us − those that make a positive impact on our world today and challenge our views of what´s possible in the future. The `Best of What´s New Award´ is the magazine´s top honor, and the 100 winners − chosen from among thousands of entrants − represent the highest level of achievement in their fields."