Robot: will draw for food

Biological systems often find the best ways to get what they need to survive. Now, a robot created by researchers at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Imperial College London and the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign can make the same claim. The robot operates in front of a plate with electrical terminals at one end and various obstacles between these terminals and the robot.

The robot can grab and rearrange some of the elements on the plate, then draw paths to the terminals using conductive ink. The effect is that the robot can "eat" if it solves the connection puzzle.

Admittedly, in and of itself, this is not particularly important. Obviously the machine already has power and that doesn't really help it get more power. However, there are many tasks where a robotic art can have a task to perform that defies any predefined definition. This is an example of how software can assess the situation, then create and execute a plan to achieve the desired outcome.

The robot's ability to move a ramp over a barrier and then shoot over the ramp was particularly impressive. It's not going to revolutionize a pick and place setup, but we could see applications in, say, PCB layout, which is no different.

Need your own robot arm to play? We've covered a few. Conductive ink not included.