Development of automatic insect-tracking robot system for measuring local activity changes in free walking
This study aims to develop a robotic system that autonomously tracks insects during free walking to elucidate the relationship between olfactory sensory stimuli and behavioral changes in insects. The adaptability of organisms is defined by their ability to select appropriate behaviors based on senso...
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2025-06-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Robotics and AI |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frobt.2025.1602867/full |
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| author | Ryoko Sekiwa Tatsuya Ibuki Shunsuke Shigaki |
| author_facet | Ryoko Sekiwa Tatsuya Ibuki Shunsuke Shigaki |
| author_sort | Ryoko Sekiwa |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This study aims to develop a robotic system that autonomously tracks insects during free walking to elucidate the relationship between olfactory sensory stimuli and behavioral changes in insects. The adaptability of organisms is defined by their ability to select appropriate behaviors based on sensory inputs in response to environmental changes, a capacity that insects exhibit through efficient adaptive behaviors despite their limited nervous systems. Consequently, new measurement techniques are needed to investigate the neuroethological processes in insects. Traditional behavioral observations of insects have been conducted using free-walking experiments and treadmill techniques; however, these methods face limitations in accurately measuring sensory stimuli and analyzing the factors contributing to detailed behavioral changes. In this study, a robotic system is employed to track free-walking insects while simultaneously recording electroantennogram (EAG) responses at the location of the antenna of the insect during movement, thus enabling the measurement of the relationship between olfactory reception and behavioral change. In this research, we focus on a male silk moth (Bombyxmori) as the target insect and measure its odor source localization behavior. The system comprises a high-speed camera to estimate the movement direction of the insect, a drive system, and instrumentation amplifiers to measure physiological responses. The robot tracks the insect with an error margin of less than 5 mm, recording the EAG responses associated with the olfactory reception during this process. An analysis of the relationship between EAG responses and behavior revealed that the silk moth exhibits a significant amplitude in its EAG responses during the initial odor source localization stage. This suggests that the moth does not necessarily move toward the strongest odor. Further information-theoretic analysis revealed that the moth might be moving in the direction most likely to lead to odor detection, depending on the timing of its olfactory reception. This approach allows for a more natural measurement of the connection between olfactory sensory stimuli and behavior during odor source localization. The study findings are expected to deepen our understanding of the adaptive behaviors of insects. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-db499560b0ef4483ab4ff7d8345b2185 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2296-9144 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-06-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Robotics and AI |
| spelling | doaj-art-db499560b0ef4483ab4ff7d8345b21852025-08-20T03:54:57ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Robotics and AI2296-91442025-06-011210.3389/frobt.2025.16028671602867Development of automatic insect-tracking robot system for measuring local activity changes in free walkingRyoko Sekiwa0Tatsuya Ibuki1Shunsuke Shigaki2Department of Electronics and Bioinformatics, Meiji University, Kawasaki, JapanDepartment of Electronics and Bioinformatics, Meiji University, Kawasaki, JapanPrinciples of Informatics Research Division, National Institute of Informatics, Tokyo, JapanThis study aims to develop a robotic system that autonomously tracks insects during free walking to elucidate the relationship between olfactory sensory stimuli and behavioral changes in insects. The adaptability of organisms is defined by their ability to select appropriate behaviors based on sensory inputs in response to environmental changes, a capacity that insects exhibit through efficient adaptive behaviors despite their limited nervous systems. Consequently, new measurement techniques are needed to investigate the neuroethological processes in insects. Traditional behavioral observations of insects have been conducted using free-walking experiments and treadmill techniques; however, these methods face limitations in accurately measuring sensory stimuli and analyzing the factors contributing to detailed behavioral changes. In this study, a robotic system is employed to track free-walking insects while simultaneously recording electroantennogram (EAG) responses at the location of the antenna of the insect during movement, thus enabling the measurement of the relationship between olfactory reception and behavioral change. In this research, we focus on a male silk moth (Bombyxmori) as the target insect and measure its odor source localization behavior. The system comprises a high-speed camera to estimate the movement direction of the insect, a drive system, and instrumentation amplifiers to measure physiological responses. The robot tracks the insect with an error margin of less than 5 mm, recording the EAG responses associated with the olfactory reception during this process. An analysis of the relationship between EAG responses and behavior revealed that the silk moth exhibits a significant amplitude in its EAG responses during the initial odor source localization stage. This suggests that the moth does not necessarily move toward the strongest odor. Further information-theoretic analysis revealed that the moth might be moving in the direction most likely to lead to odor detection, depending on the timing of its olfactory reception. This approach allows for a more natural measurement of the connection between olfactory sensory stimuli and behavior during odor source localization. The study findings are expected to deepen our understanding of the adaptive behaviors of insects.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frobt.2025.1602867/fullautomatic insect-tracking robot systemodor source localizationsilk mothelectroantennogramadaptive-behavior |
| spellingShingle | Ryoko Sekiwa Tatsuya Ibuki Shunsuke Shigaki Development of automatic insect-tracking robot system for measuring local activity changes in free walking Frontiers in Robotics and AI automatic insect-tracking robot system odor source localization silk moth electroantennogram adaptive-behavior |
| title | Development of automatic insect-tracking robot system for measuring local activity changes in free walking |
| title_full | Development of automatic insect-tracking robot system for measuring local activity changes in free walking |
| title_fullStr | Development of automatic insect-tracking robot system for measuring local activity changes in free walking |
| title_full_unstemmed | Development of automatic insect-tracking robot system for measuring local activity changes in free walking |
| title_short | Development of automatic insect-tracking robot system for measuring local activity changes in free walking |
| title_sort | development of automatic insect tracking robot system for measuring local activity changes in free walking |
| topic | automatic insect-tracking robot system odor source localization silk moth electroantennogram adaptive-behavior |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frobt.2025.1602867/full |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT ryokosekiwa developmentofautomaticinsecttrackingrobotsystemformeasuringlocalactivitychangesinfreewalking AT tatsuyaibuki developmentofautomaticinsecttrackingrobotsystemformeasuringlocalactivitychangesinfreewalking AT shunsukeshigaki developmentofautomaticinsecttrackingrobotsystemformeasuringlocalactivitychangesinfreewalking |