Rodents inspire robot movement

Researchers at Sheffield University are part of a £5.9m project to develop touch technology for robots by taking cues from the animal kingdom.

Bringing together nine research groups from seven countries, BIOTACT (Biomimetic Technology for vibrissal Active Touch), aims to create novel biomimetic computational methods and technologies for active touch sensing to develop innovative artificial touch technologies, including a ‘whiskered’ robot.

The ongoing project aims to recreate how animals such as the Norwegian rat and the Etruscan shrew make sense of their environment in low light conditions by sweeping their whiskers back and forth at high speeds in a controlled manner. This allows them to determine the shape and surface of objects and track and capture prey.

Using this technology the team will develop two machines including a whiskered robot that can seek-out, identify and track fast-moving target objects.