Name: insect-controlled robot: a mobile robot platform to evaluate the odor-tracking capability of an insect
Uploaded: 2016-12-19T15:00:00
Description: Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Insect-controlled Robot: A Mobile Robot Platform to Evaluate the Odor-tracking Capability of an Insect at JoVE.com

We thank Shigeru Matsuyama for providing purified bombykol. This work was supported by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science KAKENHI (grant numbers 22700197 and 24650090) and the Human Frontier Science Program (HFSP).

1. Experimental Animal
<ol>
	<li>Prepare a plastic box to keep the pupae of male silkmoths (B. mori) until their eclosion. Put paper towels at the bottom and pieces of cardboard around the inner wall of the box (Figure 1A). 
	Note: The pieces of cardboard are necessary for the adult moths to hold while extending their wings during eclosion (Figure 1A).</li>
	<li>Put male silkmoth (Bombyx mori) pupae in the box and keep them in an incubator until ...

The most important points for the successful control of the robot by a silkmoth are letting the moth walk smoothly on the air-supported ball and the stably measuring the ball rotation. Therefore, tethering the silkmoth and mounting it on the ball at the appropriate position are the critical steps in this protocol. Inappropriate adhesion of the moth to the attachment or inappropriate positioning of the moth on the ball will cause unnatural pressure on it, which perturbs its normal walking behavior and/or causes a failure ...

Autonomous robots capable of finding an odor source can be important for the safety and security of society. They can be used for the detection of disaster victims, of drugs or explosive materials at an airport, and of hazardous material spills or leaks in the environment. At present, we rely entirely on well-trained animals (e.g., dogs) for these tasks, and robotic odor source localization has been strongly expected to relieve the workload of these animals. Finding an odor source is a challenging task for robots because odorants are distributed intermittently in an atmosphere1; therefore, continuous sampling of the odor concentration gradient is not always possible. Thus, a search strategy using intermittent odor cues is necessary for the achievement of robotic odor source localization2-4.
Odor source localization is essential for organism survival and includes tasks such as finding food, mating partners, and sites for oviposition. To overcome the difficulty in tracking patchy distributed odorants, organisms have evolved various behavioral strategies consisting of two fundamental behaviors: moving upstream during odor reception and cross-stream during cessation of odor reception5,6. These reactive strategies have been well-documented in insects and further combined with other modalities, such as wind direction and vision5-8. The insect behavioral models have also been useful examples for robotics3,9-11, in which behavioral algorithms or neural circuit models are implemented into mobile robots for the evaluation of odor source localization abilities10,12-15. From biomimetic perspectives, this "bottom-up" approach is certainly a fundamental way to develop biomimetic robots. However, the bottom-up approach is not a shortcut to obtaining a useful search strategy, because biological analyses are still ongoing, and the modeling of the sensory-motor systems behind insect behaviors has not been completed. Therefore, it is still unknown how such a biological system actually works as a controller of a robotic platform.
In this article, we demonstrate the protocol of a straightforward "top-down" approach to develop an odor-tracking mobile robot controlled by a biological system16,17. The robot is controlled by a real insect and can be regarded as a prototype of future insect-mimetic robots. In the robot's cockpit, a tethered adult male silkmoth (Bombyx mori) walked on an air-supported ball in response to the female sex pheromone, which was delivered to each antenna through air suction tubes. The ball rotations caused by the walking of the onboard moth were measured by an optical sensor and were translated into the movement of the two-wheeled robot. The advantage of this "hybrid" approach is that experimenters can investigate how the insect sensory-motor system works on the robotic platform where a pilot insect is in a closed loop between the robot and a real odor circumstance. The manipulation of the robotic hardware alters the closed loop; therefore, the insect-controlled robot is a useful platform for both engineers and biologists. For engineering, the robot represents the first steps of applying a biological model to meet the requirements for robotic tasks. For biology, the robot is an experimental platform for studying sensory-motor control under a closed loop.

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	<colgroup>
		<col />
		<col />
		<col />
		<col />
	</colgroup>
	<tbody>
		<tr height="43">
			<td height="43" style="height:43px;width:267px;">Male adult silkmoth 
			&#160;(Bombyx mori)</td>
			<td style="width:159px;"></td>
			<td style="width:171px;"></td>
			<td style="width:365px;">Rear from eggs, or purchase as pupae.</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="42">
			<td height="42" style="height:42px;width:267px;">Incubator</td>
			<td style="width:159px;">Panasonic</td>
			<td style="width:171px;">MIR-254</td>
			<td style="width:365px;">Store pupae or adult silkmoths at a constant temperature, 238 L.</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="42">
			<td height="42" style="height:42px;width:267px;">Plastic box</td>
			<td style="width:159px;">Sunplatec</td>
			<td style="width:171px;">O-3</td>
			<td style="width:365px;">Store pupae or adult silkmoths, 299 &#215; 224 &#215; 62 mm L &#215; W &#215; H.</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="63">
			<td height="63" style="height:63px;width:267px;">Copper wire</td>
			<td style="width:159px;"></td>
			<td style="width:171px;"></td>
			<td style="width:365px;">2-mm diameter for the attachment. Any rigid bar can be used as an alternative for making the attachment to tether a silkmoth.&#160;</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="42">
			<td height="42" style="height:42px;width:267px;">Plastic sheet</td>
			<td style="width:159px;">Kokuyo</td>
			<td style="width:171px;">VF-1420N</td>
			<td style="width:365px;">Sold as overhead projector film with thickness of 0.1 mm. Use at the tip of the attachment.</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:267px;">Forceps</td>
			<td style="width:159px;">As one</td>
			<td style="width:171px;">5SA</td>
			<td style="width:365px;">Remove scales on the thorax.</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:267px;">Adhesive</td>
			<td style="width:159px;">Konishi</td>
			<td style="width:171px;">G17</td>
			<td style="width:365px;">Bond a silkmoth to the attachment.</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="93">
			<td height="93" style="height:93px;width:267px;">Insect-controlled robot</td>
			<td style="width:159px;">Custom</td>
			<td style="width:171px;"></td>
			<td style="width:365px;">Bearing an air-supported treadmill, an optical sensor, custom-built AVR-based microcontroller boards, and two DC brushless motors. It is powered by 8 &#215; AA and 3 &#215; 006P batteries.</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="28">
			<td height="28" style="height:28px;width:267px;">Microcontroller</td>
			<td style="width:159px;">Atmel</td>
			<td style="width:171px;">ATMEGA8</td>
			<td style="width:365px;">A component of the insect-controlled robot.</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="42">
			<td height="42" style="height:42px;width:267px;">DC blower</td>
			<td style="width:159px;">Nidec</td>
			<td style="width:171px;">A34342-55</td>
			<td style="width:365px;">A component of the insect-controlled robot for floating a ball in an air-supported treadmill.&#160;</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="40">
			<td height="40" style="height:40px;width:267px;">DC fan</td>
			<td style="width:159px;">Minebea</td>
			<td style="width:171px;">1606KL-04W-B50</td>
			<td style="width:365px;">A component of the insect-controlled robot for suctioning air containing an odor.</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="65">
			<td height="65" style="height:65px;width:267px;">Optical mouse sensor</td>
			<td style="width:159px;">Agilent technologies</td>
			<td style="width:171px;">HDNS-2000</td>
			<td style="width:365px;">A component of the insect-controlled robot, obtained from an optical mouse (M-GUWSRSV, Elecom, Japan).</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="42">
			<td height="42" style="height:42px;width:267px;">Brushless motor</td>
			<td style="width:159px;">Maxon</td>
			<td style="width:171px;">EC-45</td>
			<td style="width:365px;">A component of the insect-controlled robot for driving a wheel.</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="42">
			<td height="42" style="height:42px;width:267px;">White polystyrene ball</td>
			<td style="width:159px;"></td>
			<td style="width:171px;"></td>
			<td style="width:365px;">A component of the insect-controlled robot. Diameter 50 mm, mass approximately 2 g.</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="42">
			<td height="42" style="height:42px;width:267px;">Bombykol: 
			&#160;(E,Z)-10,12-hexadecadien-1-ol</td>
			<td style="width:159px;">Shin-Etsu chemical</td>
			<td style="width:171px;"></td>
			<td style="width:365px;">Custom synthesis.</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:267px;">n-hexane</td>
			<td style="width:159px;">Wako</td>
			<td style="width:171px;">085-00416</td>
			<td style="width:365px;">Solvent for bombykol.</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="42">
			<td height="42" style="height:42px;width:267px;">Wind tunnel</td>
			<td style="width:159px;">Custom</td>
			<td style="width:171px;"></td>
			<td style="width:365px;">Pulling-air type, sized 1800 &#215; 900 &#215; 300 mm L &#215; W &#215; H.</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="105">
			<td height="105" style="height:105px;width:267px;">BioSignal program</td>
			<td style="width:159px;">Custom</td>
			<td style="width:171px;"></td>
			<td style="width:365px;">A program to establish serial communication between the insect-controlled robot and a PC via Bluetooth. Used for sending commands to start/stop the robot or configuring its motor properties.&#160;</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:267px;">Camcorder</td>
			<td style="width:159px;">Sony</td>
			<td style="width:171px;">HDR-XR520V</td>
			<td style="width:365px;">Capture robot movements.</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

insect-controlled robot: a mobile robot platform to evaluate the odor-tracking capability of an insect

Robotic odor source localization has been a challenging area and one to which biological knowledge has been expected to contribute, as finding odor sources is an essential task for organism survival. Insects are well-studied organisms with regard to odor tracking, and their behavioral strategies have been applied to mobile robots for evaluation. This "bottom-up" approach is a fundamental way to develop biomimetic robots; however, the biological analyses and the modeling of behavioral mechanisms are still ongoing. Therefore, it is still unknown how such a biological system actually works as the controller of a robotic platform. To answer this question, we have developed an insect-controlled robot in which a male adult silkmoth (Bombyx mori) drives a robot car in response to odor stimuli; this can be regarded as a prototype of a future insect-mimetic robot. In the cockpit of the robot, a tethered silkmoth walked on an air-supported ball and an optical sensor measured the ball rotations. These rotations were translated into the movement of the two-wheeled robot. The advantage of this "hybrid" approach is that experimenters can manipulate any parameter of the robot, which enables the evaluation of the odor-tracking capability of insects and provides useful suggestions for robotic odor-tracking. Furthermore, these manipulations are non-invasive ways to alter the sensory-motor relationship of a pilot insect and will be a useful technique for understanding adaptive behaviors.

We present here the basic characteristics of the insect-controlled robot required for the successful localization of an odor source. The comparison between the robot and silkmoths, the effectiveness of the odor delivery system, and the significance of accurate bilateral olfactory and visual inputs are examined.
The comparison of odor-tracking behaviors between freely-walking moths and the insect-controlled robot is shown in <str...

Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Insect-controlled Robot: A Mobile Robot Platform to Evaluate the Odor-tracking Capability of an Insect at JoVE.com

Insect-controlled Robot: A Mobile Robot Platform to Evaluate the Odor-tracking Capability of an Insect

The capability to localize an odor source is necessary for insect survival and is expected to be applicable to artificial odor-tracking. The insect-controlled robot is driven by an actual silkmoth and enables us to evaluate the odor-tracking capability of insects through a robotic platform.

Robotic odor source localization has been a challenging area and one to which biological knowledge has been expected to contribute, as finding odor ...

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