Shrewbot: Scientists Build Robot With Whiskers Based on Etruscan Shrew
Posted on January 23, 2012
The Etruscan shrew has inspired scientists to build the Shrewbot. The Etruscan shrew is a nocturnal hunter. The shrew uses its whiskers to find, track and capture its prey, which are often the same size as itself. The efficiency of this tiny creature inspired the scientists to look at ways of replicating the shrew's whiskers to enable robots to find their way around without the use of vision. Take a look:
Professor Tony Prescott (University of Sheffield) says, "When the whiskers touch an object this causes them to vibrate and the vibration pattern is picked up by sensitive cells in the hair follicle at the base of the whisker. These patterns are turned into an electrical signal which is sent to the brain, enabling the mammal to make instant decisions about its environment to help it move around or catch prey. The whiskers have another advantage over some other forms of tactile touch. Whiskers themselves are easily replaceable since the sensory cells are at the base of the whisker, not the top, unlike our fingers for example, which are more easily damaged and hard to replace."
The Shrewbot was developed at Bristol Robotics Laboratory (BRL) in collaboration with the University of Sheffield Active Touch Laboratory as part of the BIOTACT project. Professor Tony Pipe (UWE Bristol) and Professor Tony Prescott (University of Sheffield) are working on the Shrewbot project with a number of partners.