Wang Hao, Wang Shaokang, Qiu Zhaocheng, Zhang Qi, Xu Shuai
College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing 210016, P. R. China.
Biology Institute, Shandong Academy of Sciences, Jinan 250353, P. R. China.
Sheng Wu Yi Xue Gong Cheng Xue Za Zhi. 2022 Dec 25;39(6):1209-1217. doi: 10.7507/1001-5515.202207077.
Control at beyond-visual ranges is of great significance to animal-robots with wide range motion capability. For pigeon-robots, such control can be done by the way of onboard preprogram, but not constitute a closed-loop yet. This study designed a new control system for pigeon-robots, which integrated the function of trajectory monitoring to that of brain stimulation. It achieved the closed-loop control in turning or circling by estimating pigeons' flight state instantaneously and the corresponding logical regulation. The stimulation targets located at the formation reticularis medialis mesencephali (FRM) in the left and right brain, for the purposes of left- and right-turn control, respectively. The stimulus was characterized by the waveform mimicking the nerve cell membrane potential, and was activated intermittently. The wearable control unit weighted 11.8 g totally. The results showed a 90% success rate by the closed-loop control in pigeon-robots. It was convenient to obtain the wing shape during flight maneuver, by equipping a pigeon-robot with a vivo camera. It was also feasible to regulate the evolution of pigeon flocks by the pigeon-robots at different hierarchical level. All of these lay the groundwork for the application of pigeon-robots in scientific researches.
对具有大范围运动能力的动物机器人而言，超视距控制具有重要意义。对于鸽子机器人，这种控制可通过机载预编程的方式实现，但尚未构成闭环。本研究为鸽子机器人设计了一种新的控制系统，该系统将轨迹监测功能与脑刺激功能集成在一起。通过即时估计鸽子的飞行状态及相应的逻辑调节，它实现了转弯或盘旋时的闭环控制。刺激靶点分别位于左右脑的中脑内侧网状结构（FRM），用于左右转弯控制。刺激的特征是模仿神经细胞膜电位的波形，并间歇性激活。可穿戴控制单元总重11.8克。结果表明，鸽子机器人的闭环控制成功率达90%。给鸽子机器人配备一个活体摄像头，便于在飞行机动过程中获取翅膀形状。通过不同层级的鸽子机器人调节鸽群的行为演变也是可行的。所有这些都为鸽子机器人在科学研究中的应用奠定了基础。
