How is information processed in our brains? How can we use models of “simple” brains (like the bee!) to solve difficult problems? In this outreach activity, students built a model of the bee brain using dominos and solved puzzles at the same time!
Thanks to Dr. Sabo for developing and presenting this activity, and special thanks to the Excellence Hubs teams for organizing the “Science and TV” Workshop!
Thanks to King Edwards VII and Cawthorne Primary Schools for hosting Dr. Sabo for National Science and Engineering Week! Students were excited to learn about robot honeybees and see one of our robots in action. We may have a few roboticists in our future!!
<img class="aligncenter wp-image-485 size-medium" src="http://greenbrain.group.shef.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/2012-01-19_22-09-00_900-169×300.jpg" alt="2012-01-19_22-09-00_900" width="169" height="300" srcset="http://greenbrain.group.shef.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/2012-01-19_22-09-00_900-169×300 generika cialis rezeptfrei.jpg 169w, http://greenbrain.group.shef.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/2012-01-19_22-09-00_900-577×1024.jpg 577w, http://greenbrain.group.shef.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/2012-01-19_22-09-00_900-100×177.jpg 100w, http://greenbrain.group.shef.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/2012-01-19_22-09-00_900-150×266.jpg 150w, http://greenbrain.group.shef.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/2012-01-19_22-09-00_900-200×354.jpg 200w, http://greenbrain.group.shef.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/2012-01-19_22-09-00_900-300×532.jpg 300w, http://greenbrain.group.shef.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/2012-01-19_22-09-00_900-450×798.jpg 450w, http://greenbrain.group.shef.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/2012-01-19_22-09-00_900-600×1064.jpg 600w, http://greenbrain.group.shef.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/2012-01-19_22-09-00_900-900×1596.jpg 900w” sizes=”(max-width: 169px) 100vw, 169px” />
How do robots move and interact in their world? How do they “decide” what to do? This outreach activity introduced students to the basic concepts of programming by having students write simple algorithms to try to get a robot to do a waggle dance. Students then got to visit the lab and test their algorithms on the GB robot bee!
Thanks to Dr. Sabo for developing and presenting this activity, and special thanks to the Excellence Hubs team for organizing the “Science and the Future of Our Planet” Workshop!
This December marks the first progress meeting of the Green Brain team since the project initiation. Lots of great work has been done to get the toolkits finalized, robot flying, and initial models working. We’re looking forward to the next phase of the project, and we’ll continue to post updates. Follow us on Twitter or Facebook to get up-to-date info!
For now, enjoy our first-ever photo of the whole team:
Can robotic bees save our food supply? Projects like ours, which is trying to better understand honeybees by studying their brains, can make strides in explaining Colony Collapse Disorder and creating artificial pollinators. Check out this article in New Scientist to read more on Dr. Marshall’s interview and about robot bees in the Green Brain Project and the Harvard Robobees Project!
Summon the bee bots: Can flying robots save our crops?
At the 82nd 2013 National Honey Show in Surrey, Dr. Nowotny gave a talk to beekeepers on the subject of: “Computer Models of the Bee Brain: How do Bees recognise Odour Sources?” Visit our Publications page to find more details about the olfaction models presented and discussed!
Dr Natalie Hempel de Ibarra, a Senior Lecturer in Neuroethology at the University of Exeter, hosted members of the GB team. Her research group, based in the Centre for Research in Animal Behaviour, focusses on social insects, bees and ants, investigating how sensory information is processed and used in the context of foraging activities, spatial orientation, and navigation.
Dr. Hempel de Ibarra’s group studies complex sensory information that is available to bees in their natural environment, such as colours, pattern and odours of flower displays, and how they use sensory information to locate and choose individual flowers and flower patches. They collect behavioural data in both field and lab studies.
Check out this great article discussing new developments in, and the importance of, the study of animal behavior and cognition through embodiment in robots – including the Green Brain Project!
<img class="size-large wp-image-270 alignright" alt="Kroto_visit" src="http://greenbrain.group.shef.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Kroto_visit-1024×644.jpg" width="550" height="345" srcset="http://greenbrain.group.shef.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Kroto_visit-1024×644.jpg 1024w, http://greenbrain.group.shef.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Kroto_visit-300×188.jpg 300w, http://greenbrain.group cipla cialis.shef.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Kroto_visit.jpg 1500w” sizes=”(max-width: 550px) 100vw, 550px” />
Sir Harry Kroto, the winner of a Nobel Prize in Chemistry, took time to visit the Green Brain (GB) lab and talk about the project in early June. Each year, he returns to Sheffield where he did his studies to learn more about the research being conducted in the Kroto Research Institute where GB’s custom-built lab is housed.
Sir Harry Kroto was very enthusiastic about the live demo and prospects of the project. We were lucky to have him and look forward to demonstrating our progress in future visits!
Alex, Chelsea, and Esin will be present at Living Machines 2013 to announce the kick off of the project through a poster presentation. Come visit us at the Natural History Museum of London on July 29 — Aug 2 and talk to us about the Green Brain Project!
<img class="aligncenter" alt="http://www cialis preisvergleich.csnetwork.eu/system/files/living-machines-files/lm2013_posterweb.jpg” src=”http://www.csnetwork.eu/system/files/living-machines-files/lm2013_posterweb.jpg” height=”626″ width=”442″>
