Rock Pool Robot Promises Artificial Life Insight

September 2, 2002

American scientists have developed a robot that mimics simple sea life.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Public Anemone 'lives' submerged in a rock pool aquarium.

The aim is to create artificial life that's a close approximation of an actual organism.

The researchers hope that studying how it copes with life in the pool will speed the development of more naturalistic robots.

MIT Robotic Life director Professor Cynthia Breazeal said: "Robots don't have to be hard and mechanical, they can be organic and be supple."

The anemone has a flexible spine-like body covered in a silicon skin that gives it a realistic texture.

The scientists control its environment by computer, monitoring how it responds to sounds, light and touch.

Professor Breazeal told the BBC: "The idea is inspired by a more primitive form of life, so it looks almost like a cross between a plant and an animal."

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