解密高科技蟑螂：最新救灾神器

    该项目在实验室环境下的演示非常成功，研究团队（包括北卡州立大学教授埃德加•洛巴顿和米哈伊尔•斯契提尤）已经获得了美国国家科学基金会(National Science Foundation)信息物理系统(Cyber-Physical Systems)项目提供的资金，以尽快将该技术用于现实情境。团队的目标是在三至四年内实现该技术的实际应用。

    博兹库尔特表示：“我们希望大群昆虫生物机器人可以在极短时间内横扫废墟，帮助现场急救人员搜寻废墟中掩埋的受困人员的呼救，或使急救人员了解潜在的危险，如燃气泄漏等情况。”

    据博兹库尔特透露，工程学中最有效的方法之一是“仿生学”，即研究人员从大自然中寻找灵感，向现有的生物系统学习，应用不同的工程学原理模仿生物，解决实际问题。然而，尽管出现了一些发明和探索，对于生物机器相对更复杂的特性，人类的了解和模仿能力仍非常有限。

    博兹库尔特表示：“作为研究生物有机体的工程师，我们经常会被这些系统的复杂性和运行效率深深吸引。当我们利用技术重现它们的惊人技能时，心中满怀尊重和感激之情。”

    凭借视频游戏技术，在不久的将来，蟑螂将出现在救灾第一线，为灾民送去慰藉。以后，当我们与蟑螂狭路相逢时，踩一脚之前或许应该三思。毕竟，不论人类怎样对付它们，它们总能坚强地生存下去。（财富中文网）

    译者：刘进龙/汪皓

    Having performed very successful demonstrations in the laboratory environment, the team (which includes NC State professors Edgar Lobaton and MihailSichitiu) has received funding from the National Science Foundation’s Cyber-Physical Systems program to bring this technology into real-life scenarios. The goal is to accomplish this within three to four years.

    “We are hoping that the swarm of insect biobots will be able to sweep the rubble from one end to another in a very short amount of time, while letting first responders hear any calls for help coming from the victims buried under the rubble, or let them know about the potential hazards such as gas leakages,” said Bozkurt.

    According to Bozkurt, one of the most efficient methods in engineering has been “biomimetics,” where researchers have looked at nature, learned from the existing biosystems and applied different engineering principles to mimic these when solving real-life problems. Despite several inventions and explorations, humans are still limited in their understanding and ability to mimic the relatively more complicated properties of biological machines.

    “As engineers performing research on biological organisms, we are often fascinated by the complexity and operational efficiency of these systems and demonstrate this appreciation through an amplified respectful attitude towards these organisms,” said Bozkurt.

    One day soon, the sight of cockroaches will be a relief to disaster victims thanks to video game technology. And we may think twice before trying to stomp out cockroaches the next time we cross paths. After all, they were deigned to live through just about anything that mankind can throw at them.