-
Roy E Ritzmann,
Cynthia M Harley,
Kathryn A Daltorio,
Brian R Tietz,
Alan J Pollack,
John A Bender,
Peiyuan Guo,
Audra L Horomanski,
Nicholas D Kathman,
Claudia Nieuwoudt,
Amy E Brown, Roger D Quinn
[show abstract]
[hide abstract]
ABSTRACT: Animals must routinely deal with barriers as they move through their natural environment. These challenges require directed changes in leg movements and posture performed in the context of ever changing internal and external conditions. In particular, cockroaches use a combination of tactile and visual information to evaluate objects in their path in order to effectively guide their movements in complex terrain. When encountering a large block, the insect uses its antennae to evaluate the object's height then rears upward accordingly before climbing. A shelf presents a choice between climbing and tunneling that depends on how the antennae strike the shelf; tapping from above yields climbing, while tapping from below causes tunneling. However, ambient light conditions detected by the ocelli can bias that decision. Similarly, in a T-maze turning is determined by antennal contact but influenced by visual cues. These multi-sensory behaviors led us to look at the central complex as a center for sensori-motor integration within the insect brain. Visual and antennal tactile cues are processed within the central complex and, in tethered preparations, several central complex units changed firing rates in tandem with or prior to altered step frequency or turning, while stimulation through the implanted electrodes evoked these same behavioral changes. To further test for a central complex role in these decisions, we examined behavioral effects of brain lesions. Electrolytic lesions in restricted regions of the central complex generated site specific behavioral deficits. Similar changes were also found in reversible effects of procaine injections in the brain. Finally, we are examining these kinds of decisions made in a large arena that more closely matches the conditions under which cockroaches forage. Overall, our studies suggest that CC circuits may indeed influence the descending commands associated with navigational decisions, thereby making them more context dependent.
Frontiers in Neuroscience 01/2012; 6:97.
-
[show abstract]
[hide abstract]
ABSTRACT: Earlier observations had suggested that cockroaches might show multiple patterns of leg coordination, or gaits, but these were not followed by detailed behavioral or kinematic measurements that would allow a definite conclusion. We measured the walking speeds of cockroaches exploring a large arena and found that the body movements tended to cluster at one of two preferred speeds, either very slow (<10 cm s(-1)) or fairly fast (∼30 cm s(-1)). To highlight the neural control of walking leg movements, we experimentally reduced the mechanical coupling among the various legs by tethering the animals and allowing them to walk in place on a lightly oiled glass plate. Under these conditions, the rate of stepping was bimodal, clustering at fast and slow speeds. We next used high-speed videos to extract three-dimensional limb and joint kinematics for each segment of all six legs. The angular excursions and three-dimensional motions of the leg joints over the course of a stride were variable, but had different distributions in each gait. The change in gait occurs at a Froude number of ∼0.4, a speed scale at which a wide variety of animals show a transition between walking and trotting. We conclude that cockroaches do have multiple gaits, with corresponding implications for the collection and interpretation of data on the neural control of locomotion.
Journal of Experimental Biology 06/2011; 214(Pt 12):2057-64. · 3.00 Impact Factor
-
2011 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, IROS 2011, San Francisco, CA, USA, September 25-30, 2011; 01/2011
-
2011 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, IROS 2011, San Francisco, CA, USA, September 25-30, 2011; 01/2011
-
IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, ICRA 2010, Anchorage, Alaska, USA, 3-7 May 2010; 01/2010
-
I. J. Robotic Res. 01/2009; 28:285-302.
-
2008 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, ICRA 2008, May 19-23, 2008, Pasadena, California, USA; 01/2008
-
2008 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, September 22-26, 2008, Acropolis Convention Center, Nice, France; 01/2008
-
2008 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, September 22-26, 2008, Acropolis Convention Center, Nice, France; 01/2008
-
2008 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, ICRA 2008, May 19-23, 2008, Pasadena, California, USA; 01/2008
-
Gregory D. Wile,
Kathryn A. Daltorio,
Luther R. Palmer,
Timothy C. Witushynsky,
Lori Southard,
Mohd Rasyid Ahmad,
Anas A. Malek,
Stanislav N. Gorb,
Alexander S. Boxerbaum,
Roy E. Ritzmann, Roger D. Quinn
2008 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, ICRA 2008, May 19-23, 2008, Pasadena, California, USA; 01/2008
-
[show abstract]
[hide abstract]
ABSTRACT: Based on the structural and experimental studies of more than 300 insect species from different lineages, we have developed and characterized a bioinspired polymer material with the ability of multiple glue-free bonding and debonding. The material surface is covered with a pattern of microstructures, which resembles the geometry of tenent hairs previously described from the feet of flies, beetles, earwigs and other insects. The tape with such a microstructure pattern demonstrates at least two times higher pull-off force per unit apparent contact area compared to the flat polymer. Additionally, the tape is less sensitive to contamination by dust particles than a commercially available pressure-sensitive adhesive tape. Even if the 'insect tape' is contaminated, it can be washed with a soap solution in water, in order to completely recover its adhesive properties. We have successfully applied the tape to the 120 g wall-climbing robot Mini-Whegs. Furthermore, the tape can be used for multiple adhering of objects to glass surfaces or as a protective tape for sensitive glass surfaces of optical quality. Another area of potential applications is gripping and manipulation of objects with smooth surfaces.
Bioinspiration & Biomimetics 01/2008; 2(4):S117-25. · 1.95 Impact Factor
-
Kiisa Nishikawa,
Andrew A Biewener,
Peter Aerts,
Anna N Ahn,
Hillel J Chiel,
Monica A Daley,
Thomas L Daniel,
Robert J Full,
Melina E Hale,
Tyson L Hedrick,
A Kristopher Lappin,
T Richard Nichols, Roger D Quinn,
Richard A Satterlie,
Brett Szymik
[show abstract]
[hide abstract]
ABSTRACT: Neuromechanics seeks to understand how muscles, sense organs, motor pattern generators, and brain interact to produce coordinated movement, not only in complex terrain but also when confronted with unexpected perturbations. Applications of neuromechanics include ameliorating human health problems (including prosthesis design and restoration of movement following brain or spinal cord injury), as well as the design, actuation and control of mobile robots. In animals, coordinated movement emerges from the interplay among descending output from the central nervous system, sensory input from body and environment, muscle dynamics, and the emergent dynamics of the whole animal. The inevitable coupling between neural information processing and the emergent mechanical behavior of animals is a central theme of neuromechanics. Fundamentally, motor control involves a series of transformations of information, from brain and spinal cord to muscles to body, and back to brain. The control problem revolves around the specific transfer functions that describe each transformation. The transfer functions depend on the rules of organization and operation that determine the dynamic behavior of each subsystem (i.e., central processing, force generation, emergent dynamics, and sensory processing). In this review, we (1) consider the contributions of muscles, (2) sensory processing, and (3) central networks to motor control, (4) provide examples to illustrate the interplay among brain, muscles, sense organs and the environment in the control of movement, and (5) describe advances in both robotics and neuromechanics that have emerged from application of biological principles in robotic design. Taken together, these studies demonstrate that (1) intrinsic properties of muscle contribute to dynamic stability and control of movement, particularly immediately after perturbations; (2) proprioceptive feedback reinforces these intrinsic self-stabilizing properties of muscle; (3) control systems must contend with inevitable time delays that can simplify or complicate control; and (4) like most animals under a variety of circumstances, some robots use a trial and error process to tune central feedforward control to emergent body dynamics.
Integrative and Comparative Biology 07/2007; 47(1):16-54. · 2.45 Impact Factor
-
Conference Proceeding:
Mini-WhegS
2007 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, October 29 - November 2, 2007, Sheraton Hotel and Marina, San Diego, California, USA; 01/2007
-
2007 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, ICRA 2007, 10-14 April 2007, Roma, Italy; 01/2007
-
2007 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, ICRA 2007, 10-14 April 2007, Roma, Italy; 01/2007
-
2006 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, IROS 2006, October 9-15, 2006, Beijing, China; 01/2006
-
[show abstract]
[hide abstract]
ABSTRACT: Unlike intact animals, cockroaches with bilateral circumoesophageal connective lesions have difficulty climbing up smooth inclines. Typically, they slipped badly or even fell over backward before traveling more than 1.5 body lengths up the incline. The major problem involves increased slippage of the front and sometimes middle legs. Periods of front leg slipping are correlated with excess body elevation that pushes the height of the head to 11 mm above the substrate. Intact animals control body attitude very well on the incline, only rarely rearing above 11 mm. Cockroaches with bilateral circumoesophageal connective lesions spend considerable time above this critical amplitude and slipping increases with amplitude above that value. We conclude that circumoesophageal lesion compromises the insect's ability to control body attitude on the incline and this deficit contributes to the inability of lesioned cockroaches to climb steep inclines. A separate body attitude deficit was noted on steps. Upon climbing to the top of a barrier, intact animals bend their body between the first and second thoracic segments. This action maintains good leg mechanics throughout the climb. Cockroaches with bilateral circumoesophageal connective lesions fail to perform this downward flexion. A beneficial role for similar body flexion in simple robots is described in the Discussion.
Journal of Comparative Physiology 04/2005; 191(3):253-64. · 2.01 Impact Factor
-
[show abstract]
[hide abstract]
ABSTRACT: Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to inform the readers of the design process and practical implications of a new gripping device created by the authors. Design/methodology/approach – We have developed a novel gripping device based on the biomechanics of the feeding apparatus of the marine mollusk, Aplysia californica. The gripping device uses modified McKibben artificial muscles arranged in rings and placed in parallel. The rings contract sequentially to produce peristalsis, which moves a grasping mechanism back and forth through the rings. Findings – The central grasper is capable of conforming to soft and irregular material. Practical implications – This device could have novel applications both for removal of tissue in medical applications and for removing material from clogged plumbing lines. Originality/value – This paper demonstrates the utility of using biological inspiration for developing novel robotic devices and suggests new ways of handling slippery, irregular, and fragile material.
Industrial Robot 01/2005; 32(1):49-54. · 0.60 Impact Factor
-
Climbing and Walking Robots - Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Climbing and Walking Robots and the Support Technologies for Mobile Machines, CLAWAR 2005, London, UK, September 13-15, 2005; 01/2005
