"We went from mechanical robots to personalities that react to information, " says Lund.

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In the game, Mickey's paintbrush is better at dealing with other cartoon characters, while Oswald's high-tech gear more effectively takes on robots and other mechanical obstacles.

CNN: Meet Oswald, Mickey's lucky, techie 'big brother'

The son of a Berkeley civil engineering professor, Pister first built tiny self-propelled robots, such as a mechanical fly that could take wing and transmit data.

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So why are we so much better at improvising than robots -- which are essentially mechanical devices controlled by computers?

CNN: Roboticist sees improvisation through machine's eyes

Some of the robots dreamed up by Fudd (who, not entirely coincidentally, is studying mechanical engineering and architecture at MIT) are anything but kiddie projects.

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