A robot dog has been built with living human neurons grown on a chip that can guide it toward a target on a simplified map . The achievement, achieved by Australian startup Cortical Labs, paves the way for robots and autonomous systems capable of making decisions in real, unpredictable environments, such as operating in remote or dangerous conditions or assisting humans by providing personalized responses that evolve over time. Cortical Labs has previously demonstrated how groups of neurons can perform virtual tasks, such as playing Pong and Doom. Now, the company is extending this concept to the physical world through robotics.
"Although robots are becoming remarkably capable machines at physical control, they still struggle to master the higher-order functions needed to learn rapidly or adapt to changing conditions," explains Brett Kagan, co-founder and CEO of Cortical Labs, in an interview with sciencealert.com . "Walking, running, and performing acrobatics are amazing, but determining where and when to perform those actions remains a complex challenge for traditional methods." Using living cells as a computational substrate poses numerous challenges, but also offers great potential in terms of energy efficiency, robustness, and adaptability.
(Unioneonline)
