Robotic Penguin Keeps Tabs on Fellow Chicks

— -- A penguin lookalike cruising the ice of Antarctica on a pint-sized four-wheeler may sound like the start of a joke but it is actually the start of what could be a big leap, or waddle, forward in science.

A group of researchers led by Yvon Le Maho of the University of Strasbourg in France created a remote-controlled four-wheeler, or rover, to try to infiltrate the world of penguins in order to collect valuable data.

The researchers used the rover as an antenna to read the Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags used to monitor animals like penguins in their natural habitats.

In a new study published in the journal Nature Methods, the researchers found that the penguins’ heart rates did not rise as high when approached by the rover compared to humans.

The penguins did not run from the gray fur-covered rover and even sang to it with "a very special song like a trumpet," Le Maho said, according to the Associated Press.

The study was conducted from 2008 to 2012 at the Baie du Marin king penguin colony at Possession Island in Antarctica.

The study tested both king and emperor penguins and researchers have already expanded the rover to pilot studies with elephant seals.

“The relevance of this technology extends beyond terrestrial populations of seabirds or mammals as rovers could be adapted for use in aquatic or aerial environments as well as for many purposes beyond electronic identification,” the study’s authors concluded.