More Robots in Cages Exploring interactions between animals and robots.

Typically, roboticists have invoked the animal world conceptually as a source of inspiration for finding new approaches to efficient locomotion, perception and intelligent control [Brooks 91], [Hallam, Walker 93], [Aloimonos 97]. The first part of this paper summarizes previous work on designing a robot to share a space with a simple animal. A series of experiments between a mobile robot and three chickens in a cage are described. Techniques are described to mechanically reduce chickens ’ anxiety towards moving machinery. The second part of this paper places these insights into the wider context of robot design