The Cyborg Fly: A biorobotic platform to investigate dynamic coupling effects between a fruit fly and a robot

Abstract

The robust and efficient flight control of insects provide a powerful model system for autonomous microrobots. Conversely, robots offer a robust experimental platform on which to test biological hypotheses. This interaction of biology and robotics is an exciting but challenging task, because the vast disparities between both can lead to inaccurate or even misleading conclusions. In this paper, we present a biorobotic platform that can arbitrarily define the dynamic couplings between a fruit fly and a robot. The platform is used to explore the stability and emergent properties of the biorobotic couple. The fruit flypsilas wing kinematics are measured in real time and used to drive an autonomous robot. In turn, the robotpsilas sensory information is transformed back into visual feedback to the fly. Using different case studies, we explore how the choice of feedback influences the success of the biorobotic device. We discuss the meaning of such feedback in view of biomimetic implementations.