UC Irvine professor Jeff Krichmar and colleagues are experimenting with robotic awareness and trying to teach mechanical brains to behave more like human and animal brains by programming traits that mimic obsessive-compulsive disorder or a fear of open spaces.

Professor Krichmar presented his research this week at the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation in Hong Kong.

The team studied the actions of serotonin and dopamine in mice as they solved a maze or reacted to an unfamiliar environment. The scientists then mimicked the actions of the brain chemicals by translating them into equations in the robots’ cognitive software.

Teaching a robot to feel fear or anxiousness could contribute to its ability to adapt to changing conditions and instill in it a sense of self-preservation. For example, a search-and-rescue robot could analyze weather conditions before attempting a mission.

Krichmar has already developed a robot named Carl’s Junior that responds to verbal commands and other external signals. It is used as a therapeutic tool for children on the autism spectrum who are less comfortable interacting with humans than they are with inanimate, but responsive, objects.