Aidan's blog inspired me to discuss the flip side of my exploration, which is excitement in the form of zoomies. Zoomies (or frenetic random activity periods) is a behaviour largely found in animals which allows them to express pent-up energy in bursts of erratical and unpredictable movements. Although not (largely) scientifically studied, the behaviour itself is widely known and experienced second hand by anyone nearby animals (pets OR wild).
A good comparison for zoomies is a game of pin-ball; as the player pulls down a plunger, the force exerted for pulling is released onto a steel ball that is then bumping all over the bumpers, ramps, slingshots and targets.
Compared to Aidan's approach on zoomies, I would like to explore the behaviour itself in the light of the creature exterting it rather than the viewer experiencing it second-hand. Therefore, I would think an example of zoomies in articificial creatures would be something like a creature overheating and stoping in order to regulate its "internal arousal", the act of short ciruciting because of too much energy, an unstable code that performs erratically, or a robot recalibrating before being able to perform. Out of these examples, only the recalibration might be able to touch on the playfulness and excitement aspects of zoomies, as this "play" allows the robots arms to return to a baseline.
A hypothetical artificial creature that would be able to display the zoomies would be created from multiple pieces that are movable. As a person is further away, the pieces would move calmly, very similar to the way calm waves would behave. As a person approaches, the pieces would turn spiky and start moving uncontrollably. If the person does not make a move, the creature won't move at all. Once the person moves, the creature starts moving frenetically again.