Roland Piquepaille's Technology Trends
How new technologies are modifying our way of life


jeudi 19 décembre 2002
 

Today, we'll learn a new word: hybrot, short for "hybrid robot."

Steve Potter, who is a professor of biomedical engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology, has a brand new robot. He calls it a hybrot and this is a thinker, not a fighter. David Cameron has the story.

The device, which Potter calls a hybrot, is in essence a rat-controlled robot, and marks the first instance in which cultured neurons have been used to control a robotic mechanism. And while the hybrot’s movements may appear less than graceful, the knowledge gained could lead to computer chips modeled on biological systems -- and perhaps even to computers that incorporate biological components.

Here is a picture of the hybrot (courtesy of the Georgia Tech Laboratory for Neuroengineering.)

The rat-brained robot (courtesy of the Georgia Tech Laboratory for Neuroengineering)
In his experiment, Potter places a droplet of solution containing thousands of rat neuron cells onto a silicon chip that’s embedded with 60 electrodes connected to an amplifier. The electrical signals that the cells fire at one another are picked up by the electrodes which then send the amplified signal into a computer. The computer, in turn, wirelessly relays the data to the robot.
The robot then manifests this neuronal activity with physical motion, each of its movements a direct result of neurons talking to neurons. And the robot also sends information back to the cells. Equipped with light sensors, the robot receives input about its location in the playpen from infrared signals lining the borders.

For more details, please read the full article.

Source: David Cameron, Technology Review, December 18, 2002


2:56:59 PM  Permalink  Comments []  Trackback []


Click here to visit the Radio UserLand website. © Copyright 2004 Roland Piquepaille.
Last update: 01/11/2004; 11:40:53.

December 2002
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
8 9 10 11 12 13 14
15 16 17 18 19 20 21
22 23 24 25 26 27 28
29 30 31        
Nov   Jan



Search this blog for

Courtesy of PicoSearch


Personal Links



Other Links

Ars Technica
BoingBoing
Daily Rotation News
Geek.com
Gizmodo
Microdoc News
Nanodot
Slashdot
Smart Mobs
Techdirt
Technorati


People

Dave Barry
Paul Boutin
Dan Bricklin
Dan Gillmor
Mitch Kapor
Lawrence Lessig
Jenny Levine
Karlin Lillington
Jean-Luc Raymond
Ray Ozzie
John Robb
Jean-Yves Stervinou
Dolores Tam
Dylan Tweney
Jon Udell
Dave Winer
Amy Wohl


Drop me a note via Radio
Click here to send an email to the editor of this weblog.

E-mail me directly at
pique@noos.fr

Subscribe to this weblog
Subscribe to "Roland Piquepaille's Technology Trends" in Radio UserLand.

XML Version of this page
Click to see the XML version of this web page.

Technorati Profile

Listed on BlogShares