Yes, Mrdon, and it makes sense to study the movement of different creatures to see what dynamics they are using that could be borrowed for machine motion. In robotics, I find that more interesting than the replication of human attributes.
Rob, studying nature can provide inspiration where a tough engineer problem can be resolved within the Eureka moment by the movement of a cockroach. Cool stuff!!
Rob, engineers are finding inspiration from nature and the future direction, it seems, is to package their basic behaviors in bio-mechanical machines to medically aid humans. Truly fascinating stuff!
Good points, Mrdon. Interesting how bioengineering has entered the robotics world. We could see a world of soft robots that are made of living tissue. Quite amazing.
Ann, it would seem as if keeping the tissue in the nutrient bath would would defeat the purpose of this technology - namely eliminating the space required for more conventional motion control.
Any idea about the life-span, or is the fact that it's being "fed" cause cell division for an indefinite amount of time, thereby reproducing itself? I'm running a little low on my memory of cellular biology.
Thanks, Rob and mrdon. I, too, was surprised to see yet another science fiction idea coming into reality with this subject. Like Scott, I think it's kinda freaky, but also fascinating.
Well I have to admit that this is a little bit freaky, but still pretty cool. Who knows what this means for the future, I suppose that some Cyborg, hybrid robot in 2050 will owe it's movement to these early developments.
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