Navigate a Maze With This Insane Robot That Uses Physical Intelligence

Amaze Lab

There’s been a lot of talk recently about artificial intelligence and how it’s on track to outpace human intelligence in just a few decades. Well, that’s no concern when it comes to this robot, one its developers call “brainless”.

Transcript

00:00There's been a lot of talk recently about artificial intelligence and how it's on track

00:07to outpace human intelligence in just a few decades. Well, that's no concern when it comes

00:12to this robot. One, its developers call Brainless. This is the soft-bodied robot being developed in

00:18North Carolina State University, and it can navigate mazes by rolling around. Its developers

00:23liken the movement to that of a cup, where the robot is slightly wider at one end than the other.

00:27Their initial build of the robot was tubular, which meant it couldn't turn unless it ran into

00:31something, and it often got stuck between parallel objects. This new design allows it to turn at will,

00:36not using artificial intelligence, but physical intelligence. Professor Jia Yin, one of the

00:42researchers on the project, explains that physical intelligence is derived from the way a soft-bodied

00:46robot is developed, referring to the automaton's dynamic physical capabilities, rather than a

00:52programmed algorithmic brain. This maze-beating robot must currently be moving around a surface

00:56that is at least 131 degrees Fahrenheit, causing the portion of the bot touching the hot surface

01:01to contract. This causes the robot to roll back and forth, navigating the maze without programming,

01:07with Professor Yin adding, this could change the way we think about soft robot design.

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