JST ERATO Asada Synergistic Intelligence Project, Osaka, Japan.
J Neurosci Methods. 2010 Aug 15;191(1):138-44. doi: 10.1016/j.jneumeth.2010.06.013. Epub 2010 Jun 19.
This paper proposes a novel robot/insect mixed society setup which enhances the possibilities for insect behavioral research and can be used as a powerful tool for interdisciplinary studies on insect behavior. Micro-robots are equipped with decoys so as to allow a controlled dynamic interaction with crickets, Gryllus bimaculatus. A camera records the interaction and the video is later processed for the automatic tracking of each encounter between cricket and robot. A novelty of our method lies in using the robots as tools for the controlled evoking of specific insect behaviors rather than trying to build an insect-like robot. The possibility for performing controlled repeatable movements allows the stimulation of certain insect behaviors that are usually difficult to trigger using insects alone, allowing consistent behavioral research. A set of experiments were performed in order to validate the proposed setup. We also demonstrate the use of our setup for stimulating agonistic behavior during an electromyography recording session.
本文提出了一种新颖的机器人/昆虫混合社会设置，增强了昆虫行为研究的可能性，并可作为昆虫行为跨学科研究的有力工具。微型机器人配备了诱饵，以便与蟋蟀（Gryllus bimaculatus）进行受控的动态交互。相机记录交互过程，然后对视频进行后期处理，以自动跟踪蟋蟀与机器人之间的每次相遇。我们的方法的新颖之处在于使用机器人作为工具来控制引发特定昆虫行为，而不是试图制造类似昆虫的机器人。进行受控可重复运动的可能性允许刺激某些通常难以使用昆虫单独触发的昆虫行为，从而实现一致的行为研究。进行了一组实验以验证所提出的设置。我们还展示了如何在肌电图记录会话期间使用我们的设置来刺激竞争行为。
