Recent advances in neural engineering have enabled direct control of insect locomotion through neural and muscular stimulation. The resulting insect biobots, with a natural ability to crawl through ...small spaces, offer unique advantages over traditional synthetic robots. A cyberphysical network of such biobots could prove useful for search and rescue applications in uncertain disaster environments. We present a vision-based automated system for an objective assessment of biobotic navigation capability on Madagascar hissing cockroaches. We report the most precise control results obtained with insect biobots so far both manually and autonomously. We also demonstrate autonomous control capability where a low-power insect-mounted array of microphones was used to localize a sound source and guide the biobot toward it. Forming a wireless mobile sensor network with directional and omnidirectional microphones distributed within the structure of a rubble pile could be useful for both environmental mapping and localization of trapped survivors under the rubble.
Disaster robotics is a growing field that is concerned with the design and development of robots for disaster response and disaster recovery. These robots assist first responders by performing tasks ...that are impractical or impossible for humans. Unfortunately, current disaster robots usually lack the maneuverability to efficiently traverse these areas, which often necessitate extreme navigational capabilities, such as centimeter-scale clearance. Recent work has shown that it is possible to control the locomotion of insects such as the Madagascar hissing cockroach (
) through bioelectrical stimulation of their neuro-mechanical system. This provides access to a novel agent that can traverse areas that are inaccessible to traditional robots. In this paper, we present a data-driven inertial navigation system that is capable of localizing cockroaches in areas where GPS is not available. We pose the navigation problem as a two-point boundary-value problem where the goal is to reconstruct a cockroach's trajectory between the starting and ending states, which are assumed to be known. We validated our technique using nine trials that were conducted in a circular arena using a biobotic agent equipped with a thorax-mounted, low-cost inertial measurement unit. Results show that we can achieve centimeter-level accuracy. This is accomplished by estimating the cockroach's velocity-using regression models that have been trained to estimate the speed and heading from the inertial signals themselves-and solving an optimization problem so that the boundary-value constraints are satisfied.
Utilizing the latest neural engineering developments, researchers have enabled biobotic insects that function as search-and-rescue agents to help map under-rubble environments and locate survivors ...and hazardous conditions. The Web extra at http://youtu.be/oJXEPcv-FMw is a video in which authors Alper Bozkurt, Edgar Lobaton, and Mihail Sichitiu demonstrate the acoustic steering of roach biobots to search for disaster victims trapped under rubble.
This paper presents a system for behavioral, environmental, and physiological monitoring of working dogs using on-body and aerial sensors. The proof of concept study presented here includes two ...trained dogs performing nine scent detection tasks in an uncontrolled environment encompassing approximately two acres. The dogs were outfitted with a custom designed wearable harness to monitor their heart rate, activity levels and skin temperature. We utilized a commercially available micro-air vehicle to perform aerial sensing by tracking the terrain and movement of the dog in the outdoor space. The dogs were free to explore the space working at maximal speeds to complete a scent-based search-and-retrieval task. Throughout the experiment, the harness data was transferred to a base station via Wi-Fi in real-time. In this work, we also focused on testing the performance of a custom 3D electrode with application specific ergonomic improvements and adaptive filter processing techniques to recover as much electrocardiography data as possible during high intensity motion activity. We were able to recover and use 84% of the collected data where we observed a trend of heart rate generally increasing immediately after successful target localization. For tracking the dogs in the aerial video footage, we applied a state-of-the-art deep learning algorithm designed for online object tracking. Both qualitative and quantitative tracking results are very promising. This study presents an initial effort towards deployment of on-body and aerial sensors to monitor the working dogs and their environments during scent detection and search and rescue tasks in order to ensure their welfare, enable novel dog-machine interfaces, and allow for higher success rate of remote and automated task performance.
Agricultural and environmental monitoring programs often require labor-intensive inputs and substantial costs to manually gather data from remote field locations. Recent advances in the Internet of ...Things enable the construction of wireless sensor systems to automate these remote monitoring efforts. This paper presents the design of a modular system to serve as a research platform for outdoor sensor development and deployment. The advantages of this system include low power consumption (enabling solar charging), the use of commercially available electronic parts for lower-cost and scaled up deployments, and the flexibility to include internal electronics and external sensors, allowing novel applications. In addition to tracking environmental parameters, the modularity of this system brings the capability to measure other non-traditional elements. This capability is demonstrated with two different agri- and aquacultural field applications: tracking moth phenology and monitoring bivalve gaping. Collection of these signals in conjunction with environmental parameters could provide a holistic and context-aware data analysis. Preliminary experiments generated promising results, demonstrating the reliability of the system. Idle power consumption of 27.2 mW and 16.6 mW for the moth- and bivalve-tracking systems, respectively, coupled with 2.5 W solar cells allows for indefinite deployment in remote locations.
Wearable health monitoring has emerged as a promising solution to the growing need for remote health assessment and growing demand for personalized preventative care and wellness management. Vital ...signs can be monitored and alerts can be made when anomalies are detected, potentially improving patient outcomes. One major challenge for the use of wearable health devices is their energy efficiency and battery-lifetime, which motivates the recent efforts towards the development of self-powered wearable devices. This article proposes a method for context aware dynamic sensor selection for power optimized physiological prediction using multi-modal wearable data streams. We first cluster the data by physical activity using the accelerometer data, and then fit a group lasso model to each activity cluster. We find the optimal reduced set of groups of sensor features, in turn reducing power usage by duty cycling these and optimizing prediction accuracy. We show that using activity state-based contextual information increases accuracy while decreasing power usage. We also show that the reduced feature set can be used in other regression models increasing accuracy and decreasing energy burden. We demonstrate the potential reduction in power usage using a custom-designed multi-modal wearable system prototype.
Paleocene-Eocene aged sediments from the east of Tuz Gölü Basin (Central Türkiye) provide significant data for foraminifera contents and their paleoenvironmental clues. They are important in ...revealing the stratigraphy of the region and the Paleocene-Eocene geological history of Türkiye. The sediments, composed mainly of carbonates, are known as KarapınaryaylasıFormation. In this formation, benthic foraminifera representing SBZ2 to SBZ12 biozones corresponding to the Selandian-Late Cuisian time interval were identified in ten measured stratigraphical sections. The zonal interval from the E7 Zone (late Ypresian) to the E10 Zone (Lutetian) is characterized by the marker species of planktonic foraminifera defined in the clayey limestones from the uppermost part.The studied formation is divided into four main facies and eleven sub-microfacies types. The clayey limestone levels of the KarapınaryaylasıFormation, which generally starts with a transgressive sequence, contain abundant planktonic foraminifers, while the lithologies of grainstone, packstone and wackestone are rich in benthic foraminifers. Benthic foraminifer assemblages indicate different paleoenvironments from lagoon to back-bank, bank and fore-bank. The obtained foraminiferal data show the Selandian-Lutetian age range and various paleoenvironments from the lagoon to the open sea.
The biobotic control of invertebrates through functional electrical stimulation of neural and neuromuscular tissue is under active exploration. Implantable microelectrodes are often designed to be ...used in chronic long term applications in vertebrates and subjected to strict endurance and resolution requirements. However, these constraints can be relaxed in invertebrate-related applications to allow low cost production for high-volume markets. In this study, we propose flexible printed circuit board (flex-PCB) based electrodes for implantable neuromuscular stimulation, address related shortcomings, and suggest modifications in the fabrication process. We were able to obtain a charge storage capacity of 3.18
mC/cm
2 and 1
kHz impedance of 52
kΩ with gold electroplated 100
μm
×
100
μm electrode sites on the flex-PCB electrodes. The electrodeposition of iridium oxide and electrochemical polymerization of PEDOT with dopant PSS on microelectrodes enhanced the charge storage capacity to 38.9 and 124.3
mC/cm
2 where the 1
kHz impedance magnitude was 16
kΩ and 3
kΩ, respectively. This improvement in electrochemical performance was also corroborated by current pulsed voltage excursion studies. The long term dip test in saline solution supports the potential of flex-PCB electrodes for neural electrostimulation of insects, while revealing potential instability in PEDOT-PSS coatings with continuous high current density pulsing.
Animal-assisted interventions (AAIs) use human-animal interactions to positive effect in various contexts including cancer care. As the first installment of a 2-part series, this systematic ...literature review focuses on the research methods and quantitative results of AAI studies in oncology. We find methodological consistency in the use of canines as therapy animals, in the types of high-risk patients excluded from studies, and in the infection precautions taken with therapy animals throughout cancer wards. The investigated patient endpoints are not significantly affected by AAI, with the exceptions of improvements in oxygen consumption, quality of life, depression, mood, and satisfaction with therapy. The AAI field in oncology has progressed significantly since its inception and has great potential to positively affect future patient outcomes. To advance the field, future research should consistently improve the methodological design of studies, report data more completely, and focus more on the therapy animal’s well-being.
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