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

IRI-9612357该奖项以SGER模式资助了一项为期24个月的研究，研究安装在昆虫身上的电子“缰绳”的潜在用途，以控制其运动。 该调查结合了机器人控制和传感，神经生物学和微机电系统工程的研究，以仪器大型昆虫的方式，类似于实验室机器人的信号可以被感知和随意命令。 在这一探索期的研究涉及的控制策略的研究，用于调节运动，包括神经相关的运动控制。 使用经验和理论衍生模型的组合，研究人员将尝试“逆向工程”昆虫马达加斯加蟑螂的工作行为，以提出可以通过外部刺激对动物实施的自动控制策略，以便动物的路径和步态可以由人类或机器命令引导和控制。

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.