Scientists find baby steps help robots learn

Scientists have suggested it may be ill-advised for robots to try to run before they can walk.

Like humans do, robots can learn to walk gradually if they are allowed to grow and change in shape as they do so, says an engineer from the University of Vermont.

Roboticist Josh Bongard compared fixed-shape robots with ones that began in a tadpole-like gestational form, before gradually adopting an upright, four-legged stance.

Other scientists in the field may be interested to hear that the latter not only learned to walk faster; they also learned to walk better.

For instance, when hit with a stick, fixed-shape robots were more likely to fall over than their counterparts, whose gait proved more robust.

Successive generations of gestational robots mastered the art of walking more quickly than their predecessors, the roboticist also found.

The University of Vermont has almost 1,300 faculty members, 1,500 graduate students and more than 10,000 undergraduates.