The various colored, one-foot tech insects come with a remote control/transmitter and guide, but the US$40 bugs can also use their "nervous network" technology minds to figure out the lay of the kitchen floor by themselves, according to Hasbro.

The half-pound digital insects react to outside stimuli, such as human feet or other BIO bugs, but are based on analog transistor and capacitor technology, according to bug maker and robotics physicist Mark W. Tilden.

"The toys actually are digital, but they are based on analog principles," Tilden told TechExtreme. "Their brains are digital, but they think they're analog."

Calculator Cockroach

Tilden, known for building robots out of calculator and other basic transistors, said the field of robotics has been stuck on artificial intelligence and the desire to build a thinking, talking robot like the Hal 9000 in the Arthur C. Clarke novel "2001: A Space Odyssey."

The scientist told TechExtreme that the BIO Bugs, which are attracted to a transmitter or infrared remote controls to "feed," resulted from an effort to make smarter moving parts -- the nervous network technology.

"We worked to try and evolve new robot bodies and new robot brains," Tilden said.

Hop, Scamper and Emotion

With processing power half that of a PalmPilot III, half as fast as a remote control and twice as fast as a calculator, according to Tilden, the BIO Bugs come in four colors and models.

The red "Predator," the most aggressive of the bugs, "may even attack its own species," while the blue "Stomper" bugs clamber and hop, Hasbro says. Green "Destroyer" bugs have "a supreme defensive exterior," and the yellow "Acceleraider" scampers fastest.

The bugs can learn while kids or adults play with them, or they can be left to their own devices, according to Tilden. He said the bugs have the same features as real insects: They protect their young, need to feed and have the ability to conserve energy if they are not at play. They also use a BIO Bug "language" that consists of some 16 different sounds for aggression, sadness and other virtual emotions.

Bug Fight

The bugs also do battle with one another or with the family pet, and they learn from their mistakes as they go, gaining confidence with victories or losing it with defeat, according to Tilden.

"If you start with a room full of 20 of them, they'll beat each other up," Tilden said. "After about a half-hour, there'll be two left."

"Yes, they do bite, but they don't chew, so they're okay for humankind," Tilden added, referring to a television ad for the toys in which kids gather for a BIO Bug battle.

Hackable Hoppers

Tilden told TechExtreme that the bugs -- with sealed gear boxes and an extensive manual of modifications -- can be changed more easily than other robotic toys to full analog, to be faster, to allow them to swim or to take other evolutionary steps.

"The BIO Bugs are designed to be hacked," Tilden said. "Finding all the things you can do is a trick."

Another robot insect -- the $170 Wonderborg, also from Hasbro -- can be programmed through the PC, but Tilden said he favors the BIO Bugs because they are "user accessible, not just programmable.

"The BIO Bugs are designed so they are complete," he said.