††††Animatronics means using computers to control robots. In museums animatronics is used to make moving exhibits showing people, animals or machines.
Robots can be built to realistically translate human movements. A simple example would be a human hand moving within a specially constructed glove. Sensors pick up the movements and cause a robotic hand to move in the same way. Sensors can even be placed on the human face in order that a puppet can mimic the operator's expression.
In 1994 Professor Rodney Brooks of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the a United States developed Genghis, a robotic cockroach. Genghis is one of a group of more than 20 similar "insects" Professor Brooks has built as part of his research into developing machines that imitate aspects of animal behaviour. Genghis is made so that each movement triggers another. So, for instance, if Genghis's left front foot is raised, the right front leg stays still to form a walking pattern. The final stage of the research is to produce a humanoid robot. This is being designed to respond and communicate at the level of a human child aged between six months and two years.
