PARIS: Agnes Guillot dreams of one day seeing a giant white rat called Psikharpax scuttling fearlessly around her lab. When she does,奇迹私发网, it will be time to scream - but from joy rather than fear for it could be a turning point in the history of robotics.

Psikharpax - named after a cunning king of the rats,魔域私服信息, according to a tale attributed to Homer - is the brainchild of European researchers who believe it may push back a frontier in artificial intelligence.

Scientists have strived for decades to make a robot that can do more than make repetitive, programmed gestures. These are fine for manufacturing cars or amusing small children, but are of little help in the real world.

One of the biggest obstacles is learning ability. Without the smarts to figure out dangers and opportunities,香港六合彩开奖结果, a robot is helpless without human intervention.

Rather than try to replicate human intelligence it would be better to start at the bottom and figure out simpler abilities that humans share with other animals, they say. These include navigating, seeking food and avoiding dangers.

Rat robots are being built in other labs in Britain, the US and elsewhere. Two years ago, for instance,征途私服, a team at the ITAM technical institute in Mexico City reprogrammed a Sony Aibo dog using rat-simulated sofware.

But the European researchers believe that Psikharpax is unique in its biomimickry, sophistication of sensors and controls and software based on rat neurology.

Their artificial rodent has two cameras for eyes, two microphones for ears and tiny wheels,热血传奇私服, driven by a battery-powered motor, to provide movement. A couple of dozen whiskers stretch out impressively either side of its long, pointed snout.

Data from these artificial organs goes to Psikharpax's "brain," a chip whose software hierarchy mimicks the structures in a rat's brain that process and analyze what is seen, heard and sensed.

The goal is to get Psikharpax to be able to "survive" in new environments. It would be able to detect and move around things in its way and spot an opportunity for "feeding" - recharging its battery at power points placed around the lab.

"We want to make robots that are able to look after themselves and depend on humans as little as possible," said Guillot.

AFP