Sistema híbrido de insectos-máquina: radio control remoto de un escarabajo que vuela libremente (<em> Torquata Mercynorrhina</em>)
Summary
This protocol describes the process of constructing an insect-machine hybrid system and carrying out wireless electrical stimulation of the flight muscles required to control the turning motion of a flying insect.
Abstract
El aumento de los dispositivos electrónicos digitales de radio habilitado ha impulsado el uso de pequeñas grabadoras neuromusculares inalámbricas y estimuladores para el estudio de comportamiento de los insectos en vuelo. Esta tecnología permite el desarrollo de un sistema híbrido de insectos-máquina mediante una plataforma de insectos que viven descrito en este protocolo. Además, este protocolo presenta la configuración del sistema y los procedimientos experimentales de vuelo libre para la evaluación de la función de los músculos de vuelo en un insecto sin ataduras. Para la demostración, nos centramos en el tercer músculo axilar sclerite (3AX) para controlar y lograr girando a la izquierda oa la derecha de un escarabajo volador. Un electrodo de alambre de plata fina fue implantado en el músculo 3AX en cada lado del escarabajo. Estos se conectan a las salidas de una mochila inalámbrica (es decir, un estimulador neuromuscular eléctrica) montado en el pronoto del escarabajo. El músculo se estimuló en vuelo libre, alternando el lado de estimulación (izquierda o derecha) o variando la stimulation frecuencia. El escarabajo se volvió hacia el lado ipsilateral cuando el músculo se estimuló y exhibió una respuesta gradual a una frecuencia creciente. El proceso de implantación y calibración del volumen del sistema de cámara de captura de movimiento dimensional 3 deben llevarse a cabo con cuidado para evitar dañar el músculo y perder la pista del marcador, respectivamente. Este método es altamente beneficioso para estudiar el vuelo de insectos, ya que ayuda a revelar las funciones del músculo de vuelo de interés en vuelo libre.
Introduction
An insect-machine hybrid system, often referred to as a cyborg insect or biobot, is the fusion of a living insect platform with a miniature mounted electronic device. The electronic device, which is wirelessly commanded by a remote user, outputs an electrical signal to electrically stimulate neuromuscular sites in the insect via implanted wire electrodes to induce user desired motor actions and behaviors. In the early stages of this research field, researchers were limited to conducting wireless recording of the muscular action of an insect, using simple analog circuits comprised of surface-mounted components1-3. The development of system-on-a-chip technology with radio frequency functionality enabled not only the wireless recording of neuromuscular signals but also the electrical stimulation of the neuromuscular sites in living insects. At present, a built-in radio microcontroller is small enough to be mounted on living insects without causing any obstructions to their locomotion4-13.
The development of the built-in radio microcontroller allows researchers to determine electrical stimulation protocols to induce desired motor actions to control the locomotion of the insect of interest. On the ground, researchers have demonstrated walking control by stimulating the neuromuscular sites of cockroaches4,12,14, spiders15, and beetles16,17. In the air, the initiation and cessation of flight were achieved using different methods such as the stimulation of the optic lobes (the massive neural cluster of a compound eye) in beetles7,9 and brain sub-regions in bees18, whereas turning control has been demonstrated by stimulating the antennae muscles and nervous system of the abdomens in moths11,19 and the flight muscles of beetles7,9,13. In most cases, a built-in radio microcontroller was integrated on a custom-designed printed circuit board to produce a miniature wireless stimulator (backpack), which was mounted on the insect of interest. This allows wireless electrical stimulation to be applied to a freely walking or flying insect. Such a microcontroller-mounted insect is what is referred to as an insect-machine hybrid system.
This study describes the experimental protocols for building an insect-machine hybrid system, wherein a living beetle is employed as the insect platform, and instructs on how to operate the robot and test its flight control systems. The third axillary sclerite (3Ax) muscle was chosen as the muscle of interest for electrical stimulation and demonstration of left or right turning control13. A pair of thin silver wire electrodes was implanted in both the left and right 3Ax muscles. Moreover, a backpack was mounted on the living beetle. The other ends of the wire electrode were connected to the output pins of the microcontroller. The backpack was small enough for the beetle to carry in flight. Thus, this allows an experimentalist to remotely stimulate the muscle of interest of an insect in free flight and investigate its reactions to the stimulations.
Protocol
Representative Results
Discussion
El proceso de implantación es importante, ya que afecta a la fiabilidad del experimento. Los electrodos deben ser insertados en el músculo a una profundidad de 3 mm o menos, dependiendo del tamaño del escarabajo (evitando el contacto con los músculos cercanos). Si los electrodos tocan los músculos cercanos, acciones motoras y comportamientos indeseables pueden ocurrir debido a la contracción de los músculos cercanos. Los dos electrodos deben estar bien alineados para asegurar que no se produzcan cortocircuitos. C…
Disclosures
The authors have nothing to disclose.
Acknowledgements
This material is based on the works supported by Nanyang Assistant Professorship (NAP, M4080740), Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) Public Sector Research Funding (PSF, M4070190), A*STAR-JST (The Japan Science and Technology Agency) joint grant (M4070198), and Singapore Ministry of Education (MOE2013-T2-2-049). The authors would like to thank Mr. Roger Tan Kay Chia, Prof. Low Kin Huat, Mr. Poon Kee Chun, Mr. Chew Hock See, Mr. Lam Kim Kheong and Dr. Mao Shixin at School of MAE for their support in setting up and maintaining the research facilities. The authors thank Prof. Michel Maharbiz (U.C. Berkeley) his advice and discussion, Prof. Kris Pister and his group (U.C. Berkeley) for their support in providing the GINA used in this study.
Materials
| Mecynorrhina torquata beetle | Kingdom of Beetle Taiwan | 10 g, 8 cm, pay load capacity is 30% of the body mass Aproval of importing and using by Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA; HS code: 01069000, product code: ALV002). |
|
| Wireless backpack stimulator | Custom | TI CC2431 micocontroler The board is custom made based on the GINA board from Prof. Kris Pister’s lab. The layout of GINA board can be found at https://openwsn.atlassian.net/wiki/display/OW/GINA |
|
| Wii Remote control | Nintendo | Bluetooth remote control to send the command to the operator laptop | |
| BeetleCommander v1.8 | Custom. Maharbiz group at UC Berkeley and Sato group at NTU | Establish the wireless communication of the backpack and the operator laptop. Configure the stimulus parameters and log the positional data. Visualize the flight data. | |
| GINA base station | Kris Pister group at UC Berkeley | TI MSP430F2618 and AT86RF231 | |
| Motion capture system | VICON | T160 | 8 cameras for a flight arena of 12.5 x 8 x 4 m |
| Motion capture system | VICON | T40s | 12 cameras for a flight arena of 12.5 x 8 x 4 m |
| Micro battery | Fullriver | 201013HS10C | 3.7V, 10 mAh |
| Retro reflective tape | Reflexite | V92-1549-010150 | V92 reflective tape, silver color |
| PFA-Insulated Silver Wire | A-M systems | 786000 | 127 µm bare, 177.8 µm coated, 3 mm bare silver flame exposed at tips |
| SMT Micro Header | SAMTEC | FTSH-110-01-L-DV | 0.3 x 6 mm, bend to make a 3 mm long slider to secure the electrode into the PCB header. |
| Beeswax | Secure the electrodes | ||
| Dental Wax | Vertex | Immobilize the beetle | |
| Insect pin | ROBOZ | RS-6082-30 | Size 00; 0.3mm Rod diameter; 0.03 mm tip width; 38 mm Length Make electrode guiding holes on cuticle |
| Tweezers | DUMONT | RS-5015 | Pattern #5; .05 X .01mm Tip Size; 110mm Length Dissecting and implantation |
| Scissors | ROBOZ | RS-5620 | Vannas Micro Dissecting Spring Scissors; Straight; 3mm Cutting Edge; 0.1mm Tip Width; 3" Overall Length Dissecting and implantation |
| Potable soldering iron | DAIYO | DS241 | Reflow beeswax |
| Hotplate | CORNING | PC-400D | Melting beeswax and dental wax |
| Flourescent lamp | Philips | TL5 14W | Light the entire flight arena with 30 panels (60 x 60 cm2). Each panel has 3 lamps. 14 W, 549 mm x 17 mm |
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