This is not consisting just of assembling mechanical and electronic parts in order to construct an artificial dog or something that looks like a snake but is an emerging branch of Science in which the observation of natural species and robotics engineering get together to create robots that move like an animal, look like and animal, behave like an animal and react like an animal.
Dr. Jeffrey Schank, a psychologist from the University of California has spoken about this in the following terms “In making an artificial organism, you discover new constraints on what it is to be an animal and move around in the environment. I really think there is a lot to be discovered by doing the engineering side along with the science.”
In the following video clip you can observe the artificial mules created for the U.S. Army to help soldiers to carry heavy and bulky objects in missions.
Other applications try to understand and replicate how an animal behave like a robotic fish developed by scientists from Essex University. It’s put through its paces in a special tank at the London Aquarium and it works via sensors and has autonomous navigational control. You can access to the video in Youtube at Robotic Fish in London Aquarium.
Inside Adam Savage’s Cave is a show in which you can see how special effects are done. In the chapter below, you can see how a artificial spider is moving.
Play to the Animals game
