{"id":175796,"date":"2021-02-11T15:41:18","date_gmt":"2021-02-11T12:41:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/spider-legs-build-webs-without-the-brains-help-and-could-inspire-robot-limbs\/"},"modified":"2021-02-11T15:41:18","modified_gmt":"2021-02-11T12:41:18","slug":"spider-legs-build-webs-without-the-brains-help-and-could-inspire-robot-limbs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/spider-legs-build-webs-without-the-brains-help-and-could-inspire-robot-limbs\/","title":{"rendered":"#Spider legs build webs without the brain\u2019s help \u2014 and could inspire robot limbs"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_85 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a4ec795cd76c\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a4ec795cd76c\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/spider-legs-build-webs-without-the-brains-help-and-could-inspire-robot-limbs\/#Web_engineers\" >Web engineers<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/spider-legs-build-webs-without-the-brains-help-and-could-inspire-robot-limbs\/#Spider_diagram\" >Spider diagram<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/spider-legs-build-webs-without-the-brains-help-and-could-inspire-robot-limbs\/#Outsourcing\" >Outsourcing<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<p>&#8220;<strong>#Spider legs build webs without the brain\u2019s help \u2014 and could inspire robot limbs<\/strong>&#8221;<\/p>\n<div>\n                                Arachnophobes often cite spiders\u2019 unpredictable movement as the basis of their fear, pointing out how each spindly leg seems to lift, flex, and probe with a menacing degree of autonomy.<\/p>\n<p>Perhaps unsettlingly, research conducted by my colleagues and I has revealed that each one of a spider\u2019s legs does indeed enjoy a certain independence from the brain \u2013 especially in the complex task of web-building.<\/p>\n<p><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/royalsocietypublishing.org\/doi\/10.1098\/rsif.2020.0569\">Our study<\/a> has shown that spider legs have \u201cminds of their own,\u201d constructing webs without the oversight of the spider\u2019s brain. This has important implications for the field of robotics, which may take inspiration from this example of decentralized intelligence to build similarly autonomous robot limbs.<\/p>\n<p>To arrive at our conclusions, we observed the common garden spider <em>Araneus diadematus<\/em>, a creature familiar to us all \u2013 both suspended in our backyards, and as the heroine within the pages of the children\u2019s book Charlotte\u2019s Web.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Web_engineers\"><\/span>Web engineers<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Spiders\u2019 webs serve many functions. They provide a safe home, but they\u2019re also famously an invisible and highly dynamic trap set up to capture and then firmly hold any insect that strays too close.<\/p>\n<p>To perform this function, webs use a\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/full\/10.1002\/adma.201401027\">strong structural scaffold<\/a> of radiating spokes with what\u2019s called a \u201ccapture spiral\u201d built on top, which is soft and sticky and uses an extremely clever microscopic <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=cnbhsWtL4ks\">reeling mechanism<\/a> to pull in a spider\u2019s prey.<\/p>\n<p>Not only does the capture spiral use <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=iV_HsWWt6_o&amp;ab_channel=OxfordSilkGroup\">electrostatic charges<\/a> to trap a fly, it features a complex glue to hold it firmly, and a <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Kjh7bQSc8ag&amp;ab_channel=OxfordSilkGroup\">specific elasticity<\/a> that makes the web too stretchy for the leg of a hapless insect to push against in its struggle for freedom.<\/p>\n<p>The analogy of the internet as a \u201cweb\u201d is a fine one: because at least five different silks are used in a spider\u2019s web, the way they intersect and network with one another creates a kind of <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/academic.oup.com\/icb\/article-abstract\/59\/6\/1636\/5491829\">information filtering capacity<\/a> \u2013 with tiny vibrations noted at all times by a spider\u2019s listening legs.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Spider_diagram\"><\/span>Spider diagram<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Given the incredible complexity of spiders\u2019 webs, we must ask how such a small animal \u2013 with an obviously minute brain \u2013 can design and build this advanced structure. Modern <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/technology\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"4\" title=\"Technology\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">technology<\/a> has helped us begin to understand how spiders manage such a complex task.<\/p>\n<p><em>[Read:\u00a0<span dir=\"auto\">How Polestar is using blockchain to increase transparency<\/span>]<\/em><\/p>\n<p>By filming and tracking the movements of its eight legs, we have been able to track a spider\u2019s web-building in intimate detail, revealing the construction process to be a kind of dance around a central hub, with a precise choreography of replicable rules.<\/p>\n<p>These rules are surprisingly simple. Each step and thread manipulation follows a fixed action pattern, with one of the spider\u2019s legs measuring an angle and a distance in order to place and then connect one thread to another with a quick dab of glue \u2013 always with impeccable accuracy and spacing. Many years ago, we programmed a virtual spider, named Theseus, to demonstrate how this works.<\/p>\n<figure><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Theseus the virtual spider - Spiders: how they move and spin (3\/5)\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/HcDurM4uP-s?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><figcaption\/>The <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>arent complexity of the structure is the result of a long sequence of thousands of small steps and actions, each building on the previous steps and actions. This iterative process invests the network with \u201cemergent properties\u201d \u2013 special properties that manifest as the result of different components working together \u2013 which in turn provide outstanding architectural and engineering functionality.<\/figure>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Outsourcing\"><\/span>Outsourcing<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>The complexity of the task at hand (or rather foot) when building a web seems to have required spider brains to outsource the work to the eight legs. Put another way, spider legs build webs semi-autonomously \u2013 eight phantom limbs performing their dance within local, closed feedback loops.<\/p>\n<p>We discovered this after studying spiders building webs within frames in our laboratory. In some experiments, we cut out threads of a web being built. In others, we rotated the web like a ferris wheel. This probing wasn\u2019t done to annoy the spider: it was to help us discern the rules that govern web building.<\/p>\n<p>With a set of rules established \u2013 including rules that help spiders continue to build a disrupted web \u2013 we taught them to Theseus, our virtual spider.<\/p>\n<p>The new rules we taught Theseus \u2013 based on the dances of real spiders we observed in our lab \u2013 revealed that each leg actually conducts many web-building actions as <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/royalsocietypublishing.org\/doi\/10.1098\/rsif.2020.0569\">an independent agent<\/a>. This in turn helped us solve the mystery of how spiders build perfect webs after the loss of a leg.<\/p>\n<p>When a spider\u2019s leg becomes trapped, it\u2019s discarded, and a shorter leg regenerates the next time the spider molts its exoskeleton. Not only is this replacement half the size of a normal leg, but it\u2019s also a different shape, with different hairs and sensors. Yet somehow spiders with regenerated legs continue to build perfect webs.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"align-center \">\n<figure class=\"post-image post-mediaBleed aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" sizes=\"auto, (min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px\" alt=\"A small spider against a black background on its web\" width=\"600\" height=\"446\" class=\" lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/383372\/original\/file-20210209-23-w7b7i6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip\" data-lazy=\"true\" srcset=\"https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/383372\/original\/file-20210209-23-w7b7i6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=446&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 600w, https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/383372\/original\/file-20210209-23-w7b7i6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=446&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1200w, https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/383372\/original\/file-20210209-23-w7b7i6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=446&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 1800w, https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/383372\/original\/file-20210209-23-w7b7i6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=561&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 754w, https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/383372\/original\/file-20210209-23-w7b7i6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=561&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1508w, https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/383372\/original\/file-20210209-23-w7b7i6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=561&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 2262w\"\/><figcaption><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/thenextweb.com\/neural\/2021\/02\/11\/spider-legs-build-webs-without-brain-atonomous-robot-limbs-syndication\/#\" data-url=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?url=https%3A%2F%2Fthenextweb.com%2Fneural%2F2021%2F02%2F11%2Fspider-legs-build-webs-without-brain-atonomous-robot-limbs-syndication%2F&amp;via=thenextweb&amp;related=thenextweb&amp;text=Check out this picture on: A common garden spider with regenerated legs on its left side. Author provided\" data-title=\"Share A common garden spider with regenerated legs on its left side. Author provided on Twitter\" data-width=\"685\" data-height=\"500\" class=\"post-image-share popitup\" title=\"Share A common garden spider with regenerated legs on its left side. Author provided on Twitter\"><i class=\"icon icon--inline icon--twitter--dark\"\/><\/a>A common garden spider with regenerated legs on its left side. Author provided<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Evolution has seen to it that spider legs can in some sense think for themselves, which means the different properties of regenerated legs does not affect the building of a web.<\/p>\n<p>This relieves the brain from micromanaging eight legs executing complicated activities, freeing it to focus on survival actions such as looking out for predators. This efficient, decentralized system is remarkably relevant for modern roboticists \u2013 who are often inspired by the natural world in their artificial designs.<\/p>\n<p>Spiders are not alone in decentralizing tasks from the brain \u2013 indeed, most animals do it to some extent, like the continuous beating of a human heart. But with their webs, spiders provide us with a concrete, observable, and mesmerizing means of measuring and understanding how this decentralization works.<\/p>\n<p>This neat trick lies in a spider\u2019s embedding of simple task computation within the structure of its limbs. Roboticists call this morphological computing and have only relatively recently discovered its power. The humble garden spider, it turns out, has been using it for well over 100 million years.<!-- Below is The Conversation's page counter tag. Please DO NOT REMOVE. --><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;\" alt=\"The Conversation\" width=\"1\" height=\"1\" class=\" lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/counter.theconversation.com\/content\/153561\/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic\" data-lazy=\"true\"\/><!-- End of code. If you don't see any code above, please get new code from the Advanced tab after you click the republish button. The page counter does not collect any personal data. More info: https:\/\/theconversation.com\/republishing-guidelines --><\/p>\n<p><em>This article by\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/profiles\/fritz-vollrath-1198761\">Fritz Vollrath<\/a>, Emeritus Professor, Department of Zoology, <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/institutions\/university-of-oxford-1260\">University of Oxford<\/a> is republished from <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\">The Conversation<\/a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/spider-legs-build-webs-without-the-brains-help-providing-a-model-for-future-robot-limbs-153561\">original article<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"c-post-pubDate\">\n                                    Published February 11, 2021 \u2014 12:41 UTC<\/p><\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><script data-src=\"https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/sdk.js#xfbml=1&amp;appId=378011798897423&amp;version=v2.6\" id=\"socialSrcFacebook\" type=\"text\/template\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more like this article, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/technology\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Technology category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/thenextweb.com\/neural\/2021\/02\/11\/spider-legs-build-webs-without-brain-atonomous-robot-limbs-syndication\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;#Spider legs build webs without the brain\u2019s help \u2014 and could inspire robot limbs&#8221; Arachnophobes often cite spiders\u2019 unpredictable movement as the basis of their fear, pointing out how each spindly leg seems to lift, flex, and probe with a menacing degree of autonomy. Perhaps unsettlingly, research conducted by my colleagues and I has revealed&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":175797,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/img-cdn.tnwcdn.com\/image\/neural?filter_last=1&fit=1280,640&url=https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/02\/1-copy-27.jpg&signature=cabb33b64c631484c0cefae61fe8eb1d","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-175796","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/175796","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=175796"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/175796\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/175797"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=175796"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=175796"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=175796"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}