ROBOT IGUANODON, Penarth addendum

[darren.naish@port.ac.uk]

I wrote...

> The Penarth Group outcrops in a rough diagonal line running from SW 
> England to Newark-on-Trent etc. in the NW; 

That last NW should be a NE.

At the library have just seen the December '99 ish of _Journal of 
Experimental Biology_ (Vol. 202). The front cover features a colour 
illustration of a bipedal robotic _Iguanodon atherfieldensis_ made 
out of lego. Actually, I'm not sure it's lego but it sure looks like 
it. For some bizarre reason there is what looks like an egg on the 
ground between the robot's legs. This doesn't relate to any paper in 
the issue but the inside cover has the caption: 

------------------------------

This three-dimensional design for a robotic _I. a._ is the result of 
the Palaiomation Project (a European Consortium, supported by the 
European Commission), which is building a full-sized robot that will 
roam the museums of Europe with the aim of increasing the number of 
visitors. In contrast to existing more primitive systems, the new 
robot will demonstrate enhanced mobility, nearly realistic movement 
and sensor-based intractive behaviour with its environment. The 
design of its kinematics and of its 22 actuators is based on the 
studies of Professor R. McNeill Alexander in collaboration with a 
team of engineers. Picture courtesy of Professor Peter Dietz, 
Fritz-Suchting-Institut fur Maschinenwesen, Clausthal-Zellerfeld, 
Germany.

----------------------------

So, it's been done with fishes.. I wonder how long it'll be before we 
have zoos of robotic dinosaurs? 

DARREN NAISH 
PALAEOBIOLOGY RESEARCH GROUP
School of Earth, Environmental & Physical Sciences
UNIVERSITY OF PORTSMOUTH
Burnaby Building
Burnaby Road                           email: darren.naish@port.ac.uk
Portsmouth UK                          tel: 01703 446718
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http://www.naish-zoology.com]