Blustein Daniel, Rosenthal Nikolai, Ayers Joseph
Marine Science Center, Northeastern University, USA.
J Vis Exp. 2013 May 25(75):e50519. doi: 10.3791/50519.
We present a method to use the commercially available LEGO Mindstorms NXT robotics platform to test systems level neuroscience hypotheses. The first step of the method is to develop a nervous system simulation of specific reflexive behaviors of an appropriate model organism; here we use the American Lobster. Exteroceptive reflexes mediated by decussating (crossing) neural connections can explain an animal's taxis towards or away from a stimulus as described by Braitenberg and are particularly well suited for investigation using the NXT platform.(1) The nervous system simulation is programmed using LabVIEW software on the LEGO Mindstorms platform. Once the nervous system is tuned properly, behavioral experiments are run on the robot and on the animal under identical environmental conditions. By controlling the sensory milieu experienced by the specimens, differences in behavioral outputs can be observed. These differences may point to specific deficiencies in the nervous system model and serve to inform the iteration of the model for the particular behavior under study. This method allows for the experimental manipulation of electronic nervous systems and serves as a way to explore neuroscience hypotheses specifically regarding the neurophysiological basis of simple innate reflexive behaviors. The LEGO Mindstorms NXT kit provides an affordable and efficient platform on which to test preliminary biomimetic robot control schemes. The approach is also well suited for the high school classroom to serve as the foundation for a hands-on inquiry-based biorobotics curriculum.
我们提出了一种利用市售的乐高Mindstorms NXT机器人平台来测试系统层面神经科学假设的方法。该方法的第一步是针对合适的模式生物的特定反射行为开发一个神经系统模拟；在这里我们使用美国龙虾。由交叉神经连接介导的外感受性反射可以解释动物如Braitenberg所描述的朝向或远离刺激的趋性，并且特别适合使用NXT平台进行研究。(1) 神经系统模拟是在乐高Mindstorms平台上使用LabVIEW软件进行编程的。一旦神经系统调整得当，就在相同环境条件下在机器人和动物上进行行为实验。通过控制标本所经历的感觉环境，可以观察到行为输出的差异。这些差异可能指向神经系统模型中的特定缺陷，并有助于为所研究的特定行为的模型迭代提供信息。这种方法允许对电子神经系统进行实验操作，并作为一种探索神经科学假设的方式，特别是关于简单先天反射行为的神经生理基础。乐高Mindstorms NXT套件提供了一个经济高效的平台，可用于测试初步的仿生机器人控制方案。该方法也非常适合高中课堂，作为基于实践探究的生物机器人课程的基础。
