The early evolution of spatial behaviour: robot models of trace fossils

The evolutionary history of nervous systems can provide useful insights for biologically-inspired robot design. The study of trace fossils, the fossilised remains of animal behaviour, reveals interesting parallels with recent research in behaviour-based robotics. This paper reports robot simulations of the meandering foraging trails left by early invertebrates which demonstrate that such trails can be generated by mechanisms similar to those used for robot wall-following. We conclude with the tentative suggestion that the capacity for intelligent behaviour shown by current behaviour-based robots is similar to that of animals of the early Cambrian period approximately 530-544 million years ago.