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>> WELCOME TO "WEDU QUEST." 
I'M DR. SHANNON McQUAIG, A

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MICROBIOLOGIST AT ST. PETERSBURG 
COLLEGE.

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ROBOTS ARE UD IN A VARIETY OF 
INDUSTRIAL APPLICATIONS WHERE

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REPETITIVE TASKS CAN BE MASTERED 
BY THESE DEVICES.

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ENGINEERS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF 
SOUTH FLORIDA ARE NOW CREATING

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THE NEXT WAVE OF ROBOTS WHICH 
MIMIC ANIMAL AND HUMAN

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MOVEMENTS. 
>> ROBOTS HAVE BEEN DEVELOPED TO

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HELP US WITH VARIOUS TASKS. 
IN THE PAST, ROBOTS WERE LIMITED

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TO USING WHEELS TO GET AROUND. 
NOW DR. LUTHER PALMER AT THE

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UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA 
COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING HAS

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TURNED TO THE ANIMAL KINGDOM FOR 
INSPIRATION.

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>> WE BUILD SYSTEMS THAT WILL 
WALK ALONG SOLDIERS OR DO SEARCH

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AND RESCUE IN COLLAPSED 
BUILDINGS THAT WE USE THE ANIMAL

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MORPHOLOGY. 
THAT'S WHERE WE ARE USING THE

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TERM BIOMORPHIC. 
WE FOCUS ON ANIMAL LEGS.

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WALKING, RUNNING, CLIMBING ON 
LAND.

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DOGS HAVE BEEN USED IN 
SEARCH-AND-RESCUE APPLICATIONS,

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SO IF WE CAN MIMIC THE MOBILITY 
OF A DOG, THEN WE CAN ALSO SEND

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IT INTO SITUATIONS WHERE A DOG 
CAN'T GO, SUCH AS HAZARDOUS

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WASTE. 
>> HE DEMONSTRATES THIS IN THE

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BIOMORPHIC ROBOTICS LAB. 
THIS CREATION WAS YEARS IN THE

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MAKING.. 
>> THE SYSTEM HERE HAS TAKEN US

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FOUR YEARS TO BUILD. 
IT WAS PROBABLY TWO YEARS OF

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SIMULATION WHICH INVOLVES 
ALGORITHM DEVELOPMENT AND SOME

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CALCULUS AND TRIGONOMETRY. 
AND THEN WE DO THE BUILDING.

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>> IF YOU ARE A LITTLE RUSTY ON 
HIGH SCHOOL ALGEBRA, SO ARE WE.

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WHAT IS AN ALGORITHM? 
>> AN ALGORITHM IS A PLAN.

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IT IS THE FORMAL PLAN. 
IT'S DEFINED IN A WAY THAT A

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COMPUTER CAN UNDERSTAND IT. 
COMPUTERS OFN DEAL WITH ARE

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STATEMENTS TRUE OR FALSE AND 
THEY CAN MAKE A DECISION BASED

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ON THAT. 
IMPOSSIBLE FOR US TO FIGURE OUT,

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EVERY ANGLE, DO SOMETHING 
DIFFERENT.

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WE WANT TO CREATE AN ALGORITHM 
THAT HAS A SMALL FOOTPRINT, IN

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OTHER WORDS FEWEST LINES OF CODE 
THAT CAN ACHIEVE THE MOST.

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>> THE REMOTE CONTROL USED FOR 
THIS ROBOT IS A BASIC

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DIRECTIONAL DEVICE. 
>> WHAT WE WANT THE ROBOT TO DO

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IS IF I SAY STRAIGHT, WE WANT 
IT TO GO STRAIGHT.

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IT DOESN'T SENSE THE FRONT. 
DOESN'T HAVE A VISION SENSOR,

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BUT IT'S ABLE TO OVERCOME 
WHATEVER IT ENCOUNTERS BECAUSE

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THE LEGS -- ♪♪ 
-- LOOK FOR THE GROUND AND BE

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RESPONSIVE TO WHATEVER GROUND 
LEVEL IT ENCOUNTERPARTS.

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WHEN IT WALKS ON A HIGH OBSTACLE 
COSESEWEWEAN FORCE IT TO WALK

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SLOWER AND RAISE THE LEG HIGHER. 
THAT PUTS THE LEG IN A POSITION

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TO OVERCOME HIGH TERRAIN OR LOW 
TERRAIN.

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>> ONE OF THE DISCOVERIES 
SCIENTISTS HAVE MADE ABOUT

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ANIMAL MORPHOLOGY IS OUR LIMBS 
WORK INDEPENDENTLY FROM OUR

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BRAIN. 
>> WHEN AN ANIMAL IS RUNNING

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VERY FAST, THERE ISN'T ENOUGH 
TIME FOR THE LEGS TO COMMUNICATE

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WITH EACH OTHER. 
LEGS HAVE TO OPERATE IN WHAT WE

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CALL A -- 
IT MEANS IT DOESN'T HAVE

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FEEDBACK FROM THE MASTER 
CONTROLLER, OTHER LEGS OR EVEN

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THE GROUND. 
IT'S A FEED FORWARD.

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IT WILL GO IN THIS PATTERN AND 
IT HAS THE ABILITY TO MOVE AWAY

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FROM THE PATTERN AS IT SEES FIT 
WITHOUT ANY EXTERNAL FEEDBACK.

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>> DR. PALMER HAS APPLIED THIS 
CONCEPT TO HIS ROBOTS.

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>> THERE IS A MICROPROCESSOR IN 
EACH JOINT.

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THIS SYSTEM HERE TELLS, IT 
BASICALLY SAYS WHAT SHOULD THE

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XYZ POSITION BE. 
X FORWARD.

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Y SIDE TO SIDE AND Z BEING UP 
AND DOWN.

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>> THIS DOCTORAL STUDENT HAS 
JOINED IN THE EFFORT TO

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UNDERSTAND HOW TO MAKE ROBOTS 
ACT MORE LIKE ANIMALS.

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>> EVEN SOMETHING AS SIMPLE AS A 
COCKROACH, AS UNSIGHTLY, THEIR

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LEGS ARE INCREDIBLE. 
WE DESIGNED A ROBOT AFTER A

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COCKROACH BASED ON ITS ABILITY 
TO BASICALLY CLIMB OVER AND

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UNDER. 
>> THIS COCKROACH-LIKE ROBOT

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WITH ITS S LEGS IS STEERED BY 
THE HUMAN OPERATOR BUT USES

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ANIMALLIKE FEEDBACK LOOP TO 
CLIMB OVER OBSTACLES.

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>> WHY IS THE LEG OF A CHEETAH 
DIFFERENT FROM A MOUNTAIN GOAT?

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WHY IS THAT DIFFERENT FROM THE 
LEG OF A CENTIPEDE OR HUMAN.

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THE DIVERSITY IS REALLY MASSIVE. 
IT'S AWE-INSPIRING TO BE ABLE TO

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LOOK AT SOMETHING IN NATURE THAT 
PRODUCES ALL OF THESE THINGS ON

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ITS OWN. 
WE CAN ONLY HOPE TO BE ABLE TO

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EMULATE THEM AT SOME POINT. 
>> THE WORLD OF RUNNING AND

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JUMPING ROBOTS MAY SEEM A BIT 
OUT OF REACH.

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DR. PALMER THINKS PRACTICAL 
APPLICATIONS ARE RIGHT AROUND

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THE CORNER. 
>> I ANTICIPATE THAT WE'LL BE

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SENDING LEGGED SYSTEMS TO MARS 
AND OTHER DISTANCE PLANETS.

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THAT IS WHAT SERVES TO ME AS THE 
NEAR-TERM SYSTEM AS WE PUSH HARD

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TO MAKE THESE SYSTEMS MORE 
ROBUST AND MORE CAPABLE.

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>> IT TAKES A LOT OF PASSION TO 
PUT IN THE LONG HOURS TO

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OVERCOME THE CHALLENGES OF 
CREATING BIOMORPHIC ROBOTS.

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>> IN ORDER TO DO ROBOTICS, YOU 
HAVE TO HAVE A LOVE FOR --

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[[INAUDIBLE]] 
YOU ARE PROBLEM SOLVING A UNIQUE

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SCENARIO IN WHICH YOU HAVE A 
COMPLICATED SOFTWARE STRUCTURE

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AND A COMPLICATED HARDWARE 
STRUCTURE.

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IF SOMETHING GOES WRONG, 
FERRETING OUT WHERE THAT ISSUE

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IS CAN BE EXHILARATING AND FUN 
AND AL BE VERY PAINFUL,

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STAYING LATE AT NIGHT TRYING TO 
FIGURE OUT WHAT'S GOING ON.

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WHAT ATTRACTED ME TO ROBOTICS IS 
THIS MIX.

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>> FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE 
BIOMORPHIC ROBOTICS LAB VISIT

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www.cse.usf.edu/~palmer. 
>> NEXT, WEAC