Wang Jiajia, Xing Qiang, Ji Keju, Wang Wenbo, Zhu Longbiao
School of Mechanical Engineering, Nantong University, Nantong, Jiangsu 226019, P. R. China.
Jiangsu Provincial Key Laboratory of Bionic Functional Materials, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing 210016, P. R. China.
Sheng Wu Yi Xue Gong Cheng Xue Za Zhi. 2022 Aug 25;39(4):767-775. doi: 10.7507/1001-5515.202112049.
As the most efficient perception system in nature, the perception mechanism of the insect (such as honeybee) antennae is the key to imitating the high-performance sensor technology. An automated experimental device suitable for collecting electrical signals (including antenna reaction time information) of antennae was developed, in response to the problems of the non-standardized experimental process, interference of manual operation, and low efficiency in the study of antenna perception mechanism. Firstly, aiming at the automatic identification and location of insect heads in experiments, the image templates of insect head contour features were established. Insect heads were template-matched based on the Hausdorff method. Then, for the angle deviation of the insect heads relative to the standard detection position, a method that calculates the angle of the insect head mid-axis based on the minimum external rectangle of the long axis was proposed. Eventually, the electrical signals generated by the antennae in contact with the reagents were collected by the electrical signal acquisition device. Honeybees were used as the research object in this study. The experimental results showed that the accuracy of template matching could reach 95.3% to locate the bee head quickly, and the deviation angle of the bee head was less than 1°. The distance between antennae and experimental reagents could meet the requirements of antennae perception experiments. The parameters, such as the contact reaction time of honeybee antennae to sucrose solution, were consistent with the results of the manual experiment. The system collects effectively antenna contact signals in an undisturbed state and realizes the standardization of experiments on antenna perception mechanisms, which provides an experimental method and device for studying and analyzing the reaction time of the antenna involved in biological antenna perception mechanisms.
作为自然界中最高效的感知系统，昆虫（如蜜蜂）触角的感知机制是模仿高性能传感器技术的关键。针对触角感知机制研究中实验过程不规范、人工操作干扰大、效率低等问题，开发了一种适用于采集触角电信号（包括触角反应时间信息）的自动化实验装置。首先，针对实验中昆虫头部的自动识别与定位，建立了昆虫头部轮廓特征的图像模板，基于豪斯多夫方法对昆虫头部进行模板匹配。然后，针对昆虫头部相对于标准检测位置的角度偏差，提出了一种基于长轴最小外接矩形计算昆虫头部中轴线角度的方法。最终，通过电信号采集装置采集触角与试剂接触产生的电信号。本研究以蜜蜂为研究对象。实验结果表明，模板匹配定位蜜蜂头部的准确率可达95.3%，能快速定位，且蜜蜂头部的偏差角度小于1°。触角与实验试剂之间的距离能满足触角感知实验的要求。蜜蜂触角对蔗糖溶液的接触反应时间等参数与人工实验结果一致。该系统能在无干扰状态下有效采集触角接触信号，实现了触角感知机制实验的标准化，为研究和分析生物触角感知机制中触角的反应时间提供了实验方法和装置。
