最近的“仿生”机器人的例子包括一只探索瓦砾的“老鼠”，一只清理石油泄漏的“水黾”，以及一种抓取精致物体的植物卷须。自然机器人大赛的组织者正在寻找更多这样的想法。
重要的是，机器人应该执行一项帮助世界的活动。参赛者不必弄清楚他们的机器人如何工作的所有细节，他们只需要说明它模仿的是什么动物或植物，提供它的用途描述，并提供它的图纸–该图纸不一定要特别好。
所有参赛作品将由一个机器人专家小组进行评判，他们将着手建造一个完整功能的获胜概念版本。该机器人–连同想出它的人的名字–将于7月公布。它的设计和代码将是开源的，因此任何人都可以在他们认为合适的情况下建立它。
小组成员包括来自萨里大学的Robert Sidall博士，他创造了基于壁虎的攀爬机器人；来自瑞士EPFL研究所的Raphael Zufferey 博士，他帮助开发了Robobee机器人蜜蜂；来自慕尼黑工业大学的Sophie Armanini教授，她制造了许多拍打翼微型飞行器；来自英国皇家艺术学院的Sina Sareh博士，他开发了受章鱼启发的抓手；以及来自伦敦玛丽女王大学的Ketao Zhang博士，他在快速奔跑的动物基础上创造了腿部机器人。
“我们的主要目的是促进对生物仿生学的兴趣，并让工程研究办公室以外的人发挥一些创造力，” Sidall表示。“当我访问学校或与公众交谈时，我经常得到一些伟大的即兴演讲，所以这是一个机会，可以从绘图板上取下一些可能不会被制造出来的东西。”
任何年龄或教育背景的参赛者都可以通过该大赛的网站提交作品。
Recent examples of “bionic” robots include a “mouse” exploring rubble, a “water spill” to clean up oil spills, and a plant tendril that grabs delicate objects. Organizers of the Natural Robotics Competition are looking for more of these ideas.
It is important that robots carry out an activity to help the world. Contestants don’t have to figure out all the details of how their robot works, they just need to explain what animal or plant it mimics, provide a description of its use, and provide a drawing of it-it doesn’t have to be particularly good.
All entries will be judged by a team of robotics experts who will begin to build a fully functional version of the winning concept. The robot-along with the name of the person who came up with it-will be announced in July. Its design and code will be open source, so anyone can build it as they see fit.
Team members include Dr. Robert Sidall from the University of Surrey, who created the gecko-based climbing robot; Dr. Raphael Zufferey, from the EPFL Institute in Switzerland, who helped develop the Robobee robot bee; Professor Sophie Armanini from the Technical University of Munich, who built many flapping-wing micro air vehicles; and Dr. Sina Sareh from the Royal Academy of Art, who developed octopus-inspired hands. And Dr Ketao Zhang from Queen Mary University in London, who created leg robots based on fast-running animals.
“our main goal is to promote interest in bionics and to get some creativity from people outside the engineering research office,” says Sidall. “when I visit the school or talk to the public, I often get some great impromptu speeches, so this is an opportunity to remove something from the drawing board that may not be made.”
Contestants of any age or educational background can submit their works through the competition’s website.
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