Robots that act like rats.

• Position: Engineering

Robots that act like rat pups can tell scientists something about the behavior of both, according to researchers at the University of California, Davis. Sanjay Joshi, assistant professor of mechanical and aeronautical engineering, and Jeffrey Schank, associate professor of psychology, have recorded the behavior of rat pups and built rat-like robots with the same basic senses and motor skills to see how behavior can emerge from a simple set of rules.

Seven to 10-day-old rat pups, blind and deaf, do not seem to do a whole lot. Videotaped in a rectangular arena in Schank's laboratory, they move about until they hit a wall, feel their way along the wall until their nose goes into a corner, then mostly stay put. Because their senses and responses are so severely limited, pups should be an excellent starting point for building robots that can do the same thing.

Joshi's laboratory built foot-long robots with tapered snouts, about the same shape as a rat pup. The robots are ringed by sensors so that they "feel" when they bump into a wall or corner. They are programmed to stay in contact with objects they touch, as rats do. However, when the...