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Edinburgh Neuroscience
Christmas Lecture 2010

What can insects and robots tell us
about the human brain?

(click here for other online talks from Edinburgh Neuroscience)

photo of Prof Webbimagephoto of Prof Vijayakumar

Professor Barbara Webb, Professor of Biorobotics, School of Informatics, University of Edinburgh
Professor Sethu Vijayakumar, Professor of Robotics, School of Informatics, University of Edinburgh

Humans are remarkable in their ability to achieve complex dynamic tasks that require memory, planning and optimal use of their body – getting around town and sports are everyday examples. Most importantly, we seem to be extremely good at adapting to changes in the environment or our own bodies, re-learning at various timescales ranging from milliseconds to days and months. Would it not be great to have machines that are as versatile and robust? Professor Barbara Webb and Professor Sethu Vijayakumar aim to explore with you this exciting area of interdisciplinary research. We look at computational principles behind insect navigation and learning, and how to build robots that mimic human form and capabilities; with the aim of not only building better machines but also understanding a little bit more about the working of the remarkable machine that is us!

Click here for biographies of the speakers

Useful links
Prof Barbara Webb's personal page
Prof Sethu Vijayakumar's personal page
Institute of Perception, Action and Behaviour (IPAB) homepage
Motor Control Goup Homepage
Neuroinformatics Doctoral Training Centre homepage
School of Informatics homepage
Edinburgh Neueroscience homepage


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Webpage maintained by Jane Haley (edinburgh.neuroscience@ed.ac.uk)
Last modified: Wednesday 2 May, 2012