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First robot controlled exclusively by living brain


Arkan

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http://www.news.com.au/technology/story/0,...5014108,00.html

 

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MEET Gordon, probably the world's first robot controlled exclusively by living brain tissue.

 

Created from cultured rat neurons, Gordon's primitive grey matter was designed at the UK's University of Reading by scientists who unveiled the neuron-powered machine yesterday.

 

Their groundbreaking experiments explore the vanishing boundary between natural and artificial intelligence, and could shed light on the basic building blocks of memory and learning, a lead researcher said.

 

"The purpose is to figure out how memories are stored in a biological brain," said Kevin Warwick, a professor at the University of Reading and one of the robot's principle architects

 

He said that observing how nerve cells merge into a network as they fire off electrical impulses may also help scientists combat neuro-degenerative diseases that attack the brain such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.

 

"If we can understand some of the basics of what is going on in our little model brain, it could have enormous medical spin-offs," he said.

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Looking like the garbage-compacting hero of the blockbuster animation Wall-E, Gordon's brain is composed of 50,000 to 100,000 neurons. Once removed from rat fetuses and disentangled from each other in an enzyme bath, the specialised nerve cells are laid in a nutrient-rich medium across an 8cmx8cm array of 60 electrodes.

 

This "multi-electrode array" (MEA) is the interface between living tissue and machine. The brain sends electrical impulses to drive the wheels of the robots, and receives impulses delivered by sensors reacting to the environment.

 

Because the brain is living tissue, it must be in a special temperature-controlled unit and communicates with its "body" via a Bluetooth radio link.

 

The robot has no additional control from a human or computer.

 

From the very start, the neurons get busy. "Within 24 hours, they start sending out feelers to each other and making connections," Professor Warwick said. "Within a week we get spontaneous firings and brain-like activity similar to what happens in a normal rat - or human - brain."

 

But without external stimulation, the brain will wither and die.

 

"Now we are looking at how best to teach it to behave in certain ways," Professor Warwick explained.

 

To some extent, Gordon learns by itself. When it hits a wall, for example, it gets an electrical stimulation from the robot's sensors. As it confronts similar situations, it learns by habit.

 

Nearing Pandora's Box or medical and scientific revolution?

Edited by Arkan

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I'm more intrigued by the concept of how it's "personality" will evolve when it has mechanical components to work with instead of biological.

 

Does it feel or think in the same degree a rat does? if so, then we are on the brink of some very interesting robotic discoveries..

Fortune favors the bald.

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I think this is quite important, that they've actually successfully created not only a working hardware-to-brain tissue link, but to make the whole "brain" hook itself up and work with the robot is friggin awesome.

 

 

And I scoff at people who start to fantasize about a thinking, feeling AI. What you want is an AI with only the lower functions of an organic brain that are very hard to do with electronics; motor skills, sensory perception etc. and those lower functions would in turn be controlled by electronics and software. That way, you would get a robot that would be able to perform complex tasks, but with complete reliability and control. I mean, you wouldnt want your lawnmower or your refridgerator to be an individual. They're tools, not pets.

 

And with 50,000-100,000 neurons, this robot is about as clever as an insect. A ratbrain has aboot 15 million.

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Wow, somebody put points in their Science Skill allright! :shifty:

 

Actually, it reminds me more of WH40K's "Servitors". A way of putting irredeemable criminals to good use for society.

“He who joyfully marches to music in rank and file has already earned my contempt. He has been given a large brain by mistake, since for him the spinal cord would surely suffice.” - Albert Einstein

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And I scoff at people who start to fantasize about a thinking, feeling AI. What you want is an AI with only the lower functions of an organic brain that are very hard to do with electronics; motor skills, sensory perception etc. and those lower functions would in turn be controlled by electronics and software. That way, you would get a robot that would be able to perform complex tasks, but with complete reliability and control. I mean, you wouldnt want your lawnmower or your refridgerator to be an individual. They're tools, not pets.

 

And with 50,000-100,000 neurons, this robot is about as clever as an insect. A ratbrain has aboot 15 million.

 

I doubt most people want their machines to think, or feel, on any familiar level.

 

But how would we know if it is sentient or not? We now so little about the brain and how it really works.. Besides, we wouldn't really be able to tell wether the thing had independent thoughts, if it wasn't able to communicate/convey them through it's artificial body.

 

Maybe all a proto-consciousness needs is a fraction of the actual neurons in a brain (seeing as a large part of them are there to control the body).. Or it could be that the mind is too dependent on a body (or at the very least a biological construct which is different than a brain) for it to function on an independent level.. This was the idea I was tossing around.

Fortune favors the bald.

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