Cockroaches balancing act is a no-brainer Cockroaches balance
themselves without using their brains. Instead keeping upright
has everything to do with how the insects are built - the
architecture of their legs.That's what a group of researchers at
the University of California, Berkeley found out when they
performed experiments. That is not just an interesting bit of
information for entomologists. It's also important to robot
designers. A robot that can balance without having to use its
"brain" is a lot more efficient than one that does, because the
brain doesn't have to spend time keeping track of things like
where the robot's feet are. In fact, one of the recurring
challenges of designing a mobile robot is writing an algorithm
that keeps it from falling over. Another issue with walking
robots is adaptability. For the most part, they aren't all that
good at dealing with rough terrain or damage to their legs.
Cockroaches, on the other hand, can still walk and run if they
lose a leg and don't seem bothered by t