IT BEHAVES like a cockroach. It smells like a cockroach. It is accepted by other cockroaches. But it is not a cockroach. It is a robot and scientists say that its invention is a breakthrough in mankind's struggle to control the animal kingdom. The robot, InsBot, developed by researchers in France, Belgium and Switzerland, is capable of infiltrating a group of cockroaches, influencing them and altering their behaviour. Within a decade, its inventors believe, it will be leading the unwanted pests out of dark kitchen corners, to where they can be eliminated.
But this is only the first of the applications for a pioneering programme that has got scientists dreaming out loud. They say that they will soon be using robots to stop sheep jumping off cliffs, to prevent outbreaks of panic among guinea fowl and to encourage chickens to take exercise. "The idea of using decoys to control animals is very old," Jean-Louis Deneubourg, of the Belgian National Fund for Scientific Research, who is co-ordinating the programme, said. "Hunters and fishermen have used them for many years. The aim of this project is to develop a robot, or a robot-like artefact, capable of integrating and communicating with animals." The cockroach research was the first step, Professor Deneubourg said. "Cockroaches are not an objective in their own right. But this shows what it is possible to do."
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