SGER: Micro Instrumentation of Insects for the Study and Possible Control of Gait Regulation

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IRI-9612357 This award, in the SGER mode, funds a 24 month exploration of the potential uses of an electronic "bridle" mounted on an insect to control its locomotion. The investigation combines research in robotic control and sensing, neurobiology, and microelectromechanical systems engineering, to instrument large insects in such a fashion that signals analogous to those of a laboratory robot may be sensed and commanded at will. The research in this exploration period involves a study of the control strategies used in regulating locomotion, including neural correlates to the locomotion control. Using a combination of empirically and theoretically derived models, the investigators will attempt to "reverse engineer" the working behavior of the insect, a Madagascar cockroach, to the point of proposing automatic control strategies that can be implemented on the animal via external stimulus, so that the animal's path and gait can be guided and controlled by human or machine command.