To raise a robot, it may take a village

Not a team player 

This Beeb piece (below) had me thinking of the “show villages” set-up by countries like North Korea to mask their truly deplorable conditions.

But the idea behind this $1.4 million project is to see how groups of miniature robots will respond to each other and to changes scientists will make to their “artificial ecosystem.”

After all,  ecosystems are complex, and one of the hardest jobs for engineers will be creating humanoid robots that operates safely around people.

clipped from news.bbc.co.u Scientists to build robot society At least 60 robots will be used to create the robot village Scientists in Dundee have announced plans to create a “robot village” in an effort to learn how different cultures emerge in society. The University of Abertay’s four-year study will feature about 60 miniature robots who will be organised into groups and programmed to interact. The project team plans to observe the robots to see how they behave together. The university will undertake the study along with five other institutions across the UK.

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