August 15, 2008

The robot with a brain

Science fiction has become a reality with a research team who have built a robot with a difference; this one does not need a computer for commands because this machine has an organic brain, which has been built by using cultured neurons.

There have been other robots with a similar process but they have always required a computer too, this new design needs no computer and has been designed to study the way that the brain stores pieces of information.

There is also the possibility that this sort of equipment could be used to study the effects of Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease.

This work is being done at the University of Reading where Prof Kevin Warwick, who famously had a chip implanted in his arm, is leading the programme; this allowed the computer to monitor him as move around the building.

Source [ZDNet]