Squirrels and birds inspire researchers to create deceptive robots

Using deceptive behavioural patterns of squirrels and birds, researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have developed robots that are able to deceive each other.

The research is funded by the Office of Naval Research and is led by Professor Ronald Arkin, who suggests the applications could be implemented by the military in the future. The research is highlighted in the November/December 2012 edition of IEEE Intelligent Systems.

Arkin and his team learned by reviewing biological research results that squirrels gather acorns and store them in specific locations. The animal then patrols the hidden caches, routinely going back and forth to check on them. When another squirrel shows up, hoping to raid the hiding spots, the hoarding squirrel changes its behaviour. Instead of checking on the true locations, it visits empty cache sites, trying to deceive the predator.

Arkin and his PhD student Jaeeun Shim implemented the same strategy into a robotic model and demonstration. The deceptive behaviours worked. The deceiving robot lured the ''predator'' robot to the false locations, delaying the discovery of the protected resources.

''This application could be used by robots guarding ammunition or supplies on the battlefield,'' said Arkin, a Regents Professor in Georgia Tech's School of Interactive Computing. ''If an enemy were present, the robot could change its patrolling strategies to deceive humans or another intelligent machine, buying time until reinforcements are able to arrive.''

Arkin and his student Justin Davis have also created a simulation and demo based on birds that might bluff their way to safety. In Israel, Arabian babblers in danger of being attacked will sometimes join other birds and harass their predator. This mobbing process causes such a commotion that the predator will eventually give up the attack and leave.