Can a robot learn to navigate like a cockroach? To help researchers find out if a mechanical device can mimic the pesky insect's behavior, mechanical engineering major Owen Loh has built a flexible, sensor-laden antenna.

Like a cockroach's own wriggly appendage, the artificial antenna sends signals to a wheeled robot's electronic brain, enabling the machine to scurry along walls, turn corners and avoid obstacles.

The work is important because most robotic vehicles that are sent into dangerous locations rely on artificial vision or sonar systems to find a safe path. But robotic eyes don't operate well in low light, and sonar systems can be confused by polished surfaces.

To learn more and see the robot in action, watch this short video in Windows Media format.

Download and watch the same video in mpeg format.

To learn more about this, read the press release.