North Carolina State University researchers are using video game technology to remotely control cockroaches on autopilot, with a computer steering the cockroach through a controlled environment. The researchers are using the technology to track how roaches respond to the remote control, with the goal of developing ways that roaches on autopilot can be used to map dynamic environments – such as collapsed buildings.
The researchers have incorporated Microsoft’s motion-sensing Kinect system into an electronic interface developed at NC State that can remotely control cockroaches. The researchers plug in a digitally plotted path for the roach, and use Kinect to identify and track the insect’s progress. The program then uses the Kinect tracking data to automatically steer the roach along the desired path. Video of the system in actionis available here.
该程序还使用Kinect来收集关于蟑螂如何从遥控器接口响应电脉冲的数据。该数据将帮助研究人员微调更准确地控制蟑螂所需的转向参数。
“Our goal is to be able to guide these roaches as efficiently as possible, and our work with Kinect is helping us do that,” says Dr. Alper Bozkurt, an assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at NC State and co-author of a paper on the work.
“我们希望在这个程序上建立，包括映射和射频技术，使我们能够使用一小组蟑螂来探索和地图灾难网站，”Bozkurt说。“自动驾驶仪计划将控制蟑螂，向他们发送最有效的路线，以提供救援人员的综合局势。”
The roaches would also be equipped with sensors, such as microphones, to detect survivors in collapsed buildings or other disaster areas. “We may even be able to attach small speakers, which would allow rescuers to communicate with anyone who is trapped,” Bozkurt says.
Bozkurt’s team had previously developedthe technology这将允许用户远程转向蟑螂，但使用Kinect开发自动驾驶计划并跟踪蟑螂对电冲动的精确响应是新的。
The interface that controls the roach is wired to the roach’s antennae and cerci. The cerci are sensory organs on the roach’s abdomen, which are normally used to detect movement in the air that could indicate a predator is approaching – causing the roach to scurry away. But the researchers use the wires attached to the cerci to spur the roach into motion. The wires attached to the antennae send small charges that trick the roach into thinking the antennae are in contact with a barrier and steering them in the opposite direction.
The paper, “Kinect-based System for Automated Control of Terrestrial Insect Biobots,” will be presented at the Remote Controlled Insect Biobots Minisymposium at the 35th Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society July 4 in Osaka, Japan. Lead author of the paper is NC State undergraduate Eric Whitmire. Co-authors are Bozkurt and NC State graduate student Tahmid Latif. The research was supported by the National Science Foundation.
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Note to Editors:The study abstract follows.
“Kinect-based System for Automated Control of Terrestrial Insect Biobots”
Authors：Eric Whitmire，Tahmid Latif和Alper Bozkurt，北卡罗来纳州立大学
Presented: July 4, 2013, 35th Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society
Abstract:厘米级移动生物波特在不确定的环境中提供独特的优势。我们以前的实验表明了神经刺激技术，以控制马达加斯加嘶嘶声蟑螂的运动。这些试验依赖于人类操作员使用遥控器的刺激。我们开发了一种基于Kinect的计算机操作自动控制的蟑螂。使用图像处理技术和无线电发射器，该平台均检测蟑螂生物波特的位置并将刺激命令发送到基于植入的微控制器的接收器。这里提出的工作可实现可重复的实验，并允许精确定量蟑螂生物波特的能力。该系统将有助于改进我们的刺激响应模型，并提高我们在越来越动态的情况下引导它们的能力。
