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Robot fish could prevent crashes

by on05 October 2009

Image

School work


Boffins at
car outfit Nissan have been building robots which mimic the behaviour of fish.

After all when fish swim in schools you never see one of them have a crash, or two of them stepping aside to exchange insurance details. The tiny robots, called Eporo, can move in a fleet without bumping into others. If installed in cars as a guidance system, Nissan thinks that they could avoid crashes. (Comes in handy for carpet bombing, too. sub.ed.)

Nissan has a thing about looking to the animal kingdom for designs.Last year it made a robot modeled on the behaviour of bumblebees. The bee was able to avoid crashes but since it does not fly in swarms that much it could not mimic rush hour or highway traffic.

The new three-wheeled robot, which will be shown off at Japanese design fair Ceatec on 6 October.  It can travel in a group of seven and uses a laser range-finder to measure the distance between obstacle.The data is constantly shared between peers via radio, allowing the group to travel as a "shoal" without bumping into each other.
Last modified on 05 October 2009
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