Abstract
To study multisensory integration, we have designed a fly-robot interface that will allow a blowfly to control the movements of a mobile robotic platform. Here we present successfully miniaturized recording equipment which meets the required specifications in terms of size, gain, bandwidth and stability. Open-loop experiments show that despite its small size, stable recordings from the identified motion-sensitive H1-cell are feasible when: (i) the fly is kept stationary and stimulated by external motion of a visual pattern; (ii) the fly and platform are rotating in a stationary visual environment. Comparing the two data sets suggests that rotating the fly or the pattern, although resulting in the same visual motion stimulus, induce slightly different H1-cell response. This may reflect the involvement of mechanosensory systems during rotations of the fly. The next step will be to use H1-cell responses for the control of unrestrained movements of the robot under closed-loop conditions.
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Huang, J.V., Krapp, H.G. (2013). Miniaturized Electrophysiology Platform for Fly-Robot Interface to Study Multisensory Integration. In: Lepora, N.F., Mura, A., Krapp, H.G., Verschure, P.F.M.J., Prescott, T.J. (eds) Biomimetic and Biohybrid Systems. Living Machines 2013. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 8064. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-39802-5_11
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-39802-5_11
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