iCub is a robot platform; the intent is to explore the development of human-style cognition. Exploration techniques are an essential feature of human development, as anyone who raised a child knows.
(iCub crawling robot baby video)
iCub is defintely a step forward from earlier robot babies; take a look at M3-neoni:
SF fans recall the robot child portrayed by Haley Joel Osment in Steven Spielberg's AI (from Brian Aldiss' excellent 1969 short story Super-Toys Last All Summer Long). I don't think he crawled, though.
Humanoid Robots Tickle The Ivories
'The massive feet working the pedals, arms and hands flashing and glinting...' - Herbert Goldstone, 1953.
Golf Ball Test Robot Wears Them Out
"The robot solemnly hit a ball against the wall, picked it up and teed it, hit it again, over and again...' - Frederik Poh, 1954.
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