[Tyler]

Robots: From Animals to Automation  
     



  Over the past years the Bionic Learning
Network, a consortium of universities, institutes and development
companies run by German automation giant Festo, has been turning out
impressive robotic artifacts. Festo thinks of robots like the AquaPenguin, AquaRay and AquaJelly pictured
above as technology demonstrators that help identify bionic principles.
These principles in turn may be applicable in their next generation of
automation products. In the latest episode of the Robots podcast, Markus Fischer,
head of the Bionic Learning Network project and head of Festo's
Corporate Design explains how Festo transfers technologies from
biomimetic research to actual products. In the second part of this
episode Victor Zykov,
very well known for his work on Resilient Introspective
Machines with Hod
Lipson, talks more about the role of bio-inspiration as well as his
favorite topic, modular robots. Zykov explains his work on his
bio-inspired Molecubes (see some previous posts), and
tells us how Festo may use modular robots to construct the adaptable
factories of the future. Tune
in!


   

http://robots.net/article/2874.html