Is called Nao and he is not the protagonist of a Japanese comic, but rather one of the most advanced robots ever designed by man. The feature that makes him unique lies in his brain, indeed in his ... cerebellum. It is indeed of the first robot capable of interacting in full autonomy with the surrounding environment. A jewel of contemporary technology, made in Italy. But what is it capable of doing?
The robot capable of thinking before acting
One of the biggest challenges for scientists and engineers is to design systems capable of thinking and acting in total autonomy. The so-called artificial intelligence in conclusion, which in recent years has been making great strides. An important milestone (and at the same time a starting point) has been reached in recent weeks byUniversity of Pavia and from Politecnico di Milano in the context ofHuman Brain Project, European program on the study of the human brain. The two Italian centers have in fact created a capable robot to react to external stimuli. All this happens thanks to its artificial cerebellum capable of processing a huge amount of data, allowing the robot to act accordingly.
Here then is to see him raise a shield in case of threat, resist and react to pushes and restraints and manipulate objects, almost like a human being. Among the practical demonstrations, it was possible to observe him while protecting himself with a shield from a laser beam. The movements took place without the aid of a technician and without any guide: it was the robot who identified the danger and defended itself.
The first artificial cerebellum from Italy
Key to all of this is his artificial cerebellum which, according to Alessandra Pedrocchi of the Politecnico di Milano, is none other than "a control code that runs on a computer mimicking the function of the different types of cells that make up the mouse cerebellum ". The robot thus has the "ability to recognize and associate two temporally coordinated sensory stimuli - Explains Egidio D'Angelo, director of the Neurophysiology Laboratory of the University of Pavia - like an acoustic signal followed by a beam of laser light ". In practice, Nao can, albeit in a limited way, think before acting.
This technology made in Italy is very important not only for the robotics sector, but also for the medical one. As mentioned above, in fact, Nao is the first result of the European program on the study of the human brain. Purpose of this project it is to understand the functioning of the human nervous system, identify its many secrets and develop useful technologies to deal with certain pathologies. A program with the value of 1,2 billion euros which will end in 2023. This of Nao is only the result of the first phase, and we can only be proud knowing that it is the result of the Italian genius.
