<
https://arstechnica.com/science/2019/11/these-rats-learned-to-drive-tiny-cars-for-science/>
"Rats that learn to drive are more able to cope with stress. That might
sound like the fever-dream of a former scientist-turned-car writer, but
it's actually one of the results of a new study from the University of
Richmond. The aim of the research was to see what effect the environment
a rat was raised in had on its ability to learn new tasks. Although that
kind of thing has been studied in the past, the tests haven't been
particularly complicated. Anyone who has spent time around rats will
know they're actually quite resourceful. So the team, led by Professor
Kelly Lambert, came up this time with something a little more involved
than navigating a maze: driving.
If you're going to teach rats to drive, first you need to build them a
car (or Rat Operated Vehicle). The chassis and powertrain came from a
robot car kit, and a transparent plastic food container provided the
body. Explaining the idea of a steering wheel and pedals to rats was
probably too difficult, so the controls were three copper wires
stretched across an opening cut out of the front of the bodywork and an
aluminum plate on the floor. When a rat stood on the plate and gripped a
copper bar, a circuit was completed and the motors engaged; one bar made
the car turn to the left, one made it turn to the right, and the third
made it go straight ahead."
Via Jim Douglas.
Share and enjoy,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
