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Nature 445, 250-253 (18 January 2007) | doi:10.1038/445250a; Published online 17 January 2007

Open Innovation Challenges

Biological robotics: Working out the bugs

Alison Abbott1

  1. Alison Abbott is Nature's senior European correspondent.

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Programming a robot to think like an insect is tough, finds Alison Abbott, but it could help breed machines as manoeuvrable as flies.

Tarry II looks like a robot, sounds like a robot, and walks like an insect. He sprouts a tangle of wires, and the mechanical joints on his six legs emit a metallic creak with every step.