Neurophysiological investigations over the past 100 years have broadened tremendously our knowledge of nervous system structure and function. However, the majority of nervous system research to date has relied on the use of isolated preparations or restrained subjects. While there have been many successful efforts to record neural activity from freely behaving animals2-5, the biorobotic approach provides a valuable tool to allow for nervous system manipulation in order to test systems level neuroscience hypotheses6. Simulated nervous systems operating on robots can be experimentally manipulated and allow for the extension of software modeling to the physical world. This approach has been well implemented in the academic world7,8 but the process of building a biomimetic robot for hypothesis testing can be expensive and time consuming. We present a method to execute the biorobotic approach using a commercially available robotics kit (LEGO Mindstorms NXT 2.0). The goal of this method is to provide a rapid and efficient way to test systems level neuroscience hypotheses on robotic9 or bio-hybrid10 embodied neural network simulations. Accelerating the process from hypothesis to experiment improves research productivity. The simple LEGO Mindstorms platform provides a test bed for biomimetic sensors and neural networks which we demonstrate using the American Lobster (Homarus americanus) as a model organism. The method also provides a powerful hands-on educational tool in the classroom as students can design and manipulate nervous systems for their own robots11.
The overall goal of this method is to quickly prototype and test nervous system simulations on a robotic platform. This is achieved by running neural network simulations on the Lego Mindstorms NXT platform, and by performing side-by-side comparison testing with the animal model. First, a robot is constructed to be used as a platform for the nervous system simulation.
A hypothetical neural network based on neuro ethological study is then developed and programmed onto the robotic platform. Ethological studies are conducted to compare the hypothetical neural networks performance to that of the animal nervous system. Deficiencies in the model can be identified and inform its further development systems level neuroscience hypotheses can be tested by direct manipulation of simulation parameters.
Hello, I'm Dan Bluestein from the Marine Science Center at Northeastern University. Here we'll demonstrate an approach to rapidly implement nervous system simulations on a robotic platform. By developing this procedure for use on a commercially available robotics kit, we have made this bio robotic approach to neuroscience affordable, efficient, and accessible to researchers without robotic engineer