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Monkey's Thoughts Make Robot Walk

Posted by samzenpus on from the surrender-now dept.

geekbits writes "For all those who have at one time or another been too lazy to get up off the couch and go to the fridge and get a beer, heat up some pizza, or change the channel when the remote is missing, we may be one step closer to being able to keep our tushes parked just a little while longer. There may also be some slightly more noble implications here. According to an article in The New York Times, in an experiment at Duke University, a 12-pound, 32-inch monkey made a 200-pound, 5-foot humanoid robot walk on a treadmill using only her brain activity. She was in North Carolina, and the robot was in Japan."

3 of 146 comments (clear)

  1. The control was great... by FalconZero · · Score: 4, Funny

    ...but the feedback was lousy.

    Monkey : Move Foot Forward
    600ms later...
    Robot : OK....Oh no, I'm falling over, quick move the other foot
    600ms later...
    Monkey : Move Other Foot Forward
    600ms later...
    Robot : I can't do that dave, I've fallen over

    Although I assume in actuallity they left most of the balance control to the robot end of things; either that or the Monkey was psychic.
    (Or more likely they've got a nice low-latency academic link)

    --
    Windows in 6 Bytes (IA-32) : 90 90 90 90 CD 19
  2. Re:monkey business by TimeTraveler1884 · · Score: 4, Funny

    why is the robot in north Carolina and the monkey in Japan?
    First of all, the robot was in Japan and the monkey in North Carolina. Because as everyone knows, Japan is the only country with an abundant supply of giant robots.
  3. Don't put your robot under control of a monkey! by Oktober+Sunset · · Score: 4, Funny

    I want my robot to do my house work and fetch me beer and food, not hang from the light fitting and throw faeces at me.

    --
    What if Tetris was invented by Nazis?