While most people go about their workaday worlds don’t give much thought to what the next robot is going to look like or do, science still spends quite a bit of time making new robots and trying to make the better.
Of course, when scientists produce the biggest and best robots, they tend to attempt to make them look a little humanoid. Even more so when they start producing individual android robots that are actually supposed to be kept at home like a “personal robot.” Of course there is also plenty of drive to put together robots that look like cute little creatures or lizards like the new water powered Gecko like robot that was recently released. Still there are very few robot engineers that hype the look of creepy crawly robots like University of Pennsylvania researchers have done with their new Edubot.
The University of Pennsylvania researchers have built what they call the Hexabot which looks an awful lot like some sort of cockroach or other insect that crawls and skitters across the floor. While this particular Edubot doesn’t serve a purpose the way that some of the other robots that have been created did, they do believe that the education that this particular robot will provide can go a long ways towards creating truly useful robots.
There are plenty of scientists who believe that the simple design of many insects will allow robots that are modeled after them to do quite a bit more than the humanoid counterparts and they are easier to mass produce. Teaching a robot to walk on two legs is even more difficult that teaching a toddler and the programming it takes to get the robot to figure out to put one foot in front of the other takes time away from other designs. A robot walking on four legs are so much easier to work because the center of balance is spread out among several stands. The researchers are now able to spend their time putting newer and better software and programming instead of going back to the drawing board with two legged bots.
