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A Soft Pneumatic Maggot Robot

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Biomimetic and Biohybrid Systems (Living Machines 2016)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNAI,volume 9793))

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Abstract

Drosophila melanogaster has been studied to gain insight into relationships between neural circuits and learning behaviour. To test models of their neural circuits, a robot that mimics D. melanogaster larvae has been designed. The robot is made from silicone by casting in 3D printed moulds with a pattern simplified from the larval muscle system. The pattern forms air chambers that function as pneumatic muscles to actuate the robot. A pneumatic control system has been designed to enable control of the multiple degrees of freedom. With the flexible body and multiple degrees of freedom, the robot has the potential to resemble motions of D. melanogaster larvae, although it remains difficult to obtain accurate control of deformation.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Informatics, Institute of Perception, Action and Behaviour, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, EH8 9AB, UK

    Tianqi Wei & Barbara Webb

  2. School of Engineering, Scottish Microelectronics Centre, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, EH9 3FF, UK

    Adam Stokes

Authors
  1. Tianqi Wei
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  2. Adam Stokes
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  3. Barbara Webb
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Tianqi Wei .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Bristol , Bristol, United Kingdom

    Nathan F. Lepora

  2. Universitat Pompeu Fabra , Barcelona, Spain

    Anna Mura

  3. University of Lincoln , London, United Kingdom

    Michael Mangan

  4. Universitat Pompeu Fabra , Barcelona, Spain

    Paul F.M.J. Verschure

  5. Heriot-Watt University , Edinburgh, United Kingdom

    Marc Desmulliez

  6. University of Sheffield , Sheffield, United Kingdom

    Tony J. Prescott

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© 2016 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

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Wei, T., Stokes, A., Webb, B. (2016). A Soft Pneumatic Maggot Robot. In: Lepora, N., Mura, A., Mangan, M., Verschure, P., Desmulliez, M., Prescott, T. (eds) Biomimetic and Biohybrid Systems. Living Machines 2016. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 9793. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-42417-0_34

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-42417-0_34

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-42416-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-42417-0

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

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