Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-g8jcs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-27T18:06:44.408Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

A rat-like robot for interacting with real rats

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 June 2013

Qing Shi ,
Hiroyuki Ishii ,
Shinichi Kinoshita ,
Shinichiro Konno ,
Atsuo Takanishi ,
Satoshi Okabayashi ,
Naritoshi Iida  and
Hiroshi Kimura
Qing Shi*
Affiliation:
Intelligent Robotics Institute, School of Mechatronical Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing 100081, China Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan
Hiroyuki Ishii
Affiliation:
Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan
Shinichi Kinoshita
Affiliation:
Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan
Shinichiro Konno
Affiliation:
Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan
Atsuo Takanishi
Affiliation:
Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan
Satoshi Okabayashi
Affiliation:
Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan
Naritoshi Iida
Affiliation:
Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan
Hiroshi Kimura
Affiliation:
Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan
*
*Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

We developed a novel small rat-like robot called Waseda Rat No. 4 (WR-4) to interact with real rats. WR-4 can perform both rearing (rising up on its hind limbs) and rotating (body bending during movement) actions faster than live mature rats. After robot–rat interaction involving rearing and body grooming (body cuddling and head curling) actions of WR-4, real rats showed more activity and greater interest in the robot. Similar results evident from rat–rat interaction suggest that a rat-like robot is able to interact with rats in the same way as real rats. Furthermore, lower variances between the rat subjects in robot–rat interaction reveals that a rat-like robot can more effectively impact rat's behavior in a controllable, predictable way.

Keywords

Rat-likeWR-4Robot–rat interactionBiomimetic robotsDesignMobile robots
Type
Articles
Information
Robotica , Volume 31 , Issue 8 , December 2013 , pp. 1337 - 1350
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2013 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1.Skinner, B. F., The Behavior of Organisms (Appleton-Century-Crofts, New York, NY, 1938).Google Scholar
2.Kessler, R. C., Berglund, P., Demler, O., Jin, R., Merikangas, K. R. and Walters, E. E., “Life time prevalence and age-of-onset distributions of DSM-IV disorders in the National Comorbidity Survey Replication,” Arch. Gen. Psychiatry 62 (6), 593–602 (2005).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
3.Weiner, I., Gaisler, I., Schiller, D., Green, A., Zuckerman, L. and Joel, D., “Screening of antipsychotic drugs in animal models,” Drug Dev. Res. 50 (3–4), 235–249 (2000).3.0.CO;2-R>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
4.Remington, G., “From mice to men: What can animal models tell us about the relationship between mental health and physical activity?,” Ment. Health Phys. Act. 2 (1), 10–15 (2009).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
5.Nestler, E. J. and Hyman, S. E., “Animal models of neuropsychiatric disorders,” Nature Neurosci. 13 (10), 1161–1169 (2010).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
6.Gardier, A. M., Guiard, B. P., Guilloux, J. P., Repérant, C., Coudoré, F. and David, D. J., “Interest of using genetically manipulated mice as models of depression to evaluate antidepressant drugs activity: A review,” Fundam. Clin. Pharmacol. 23 (1), 23–42 (2009).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
7.Ishii, H., Shi, Q., Masuda, Y., Miyagishima, S., Fumino, S., Takanishi, A., Okabayashi, S., Iida, N., Kimura, H., Tahara, Y., Hirao, A. and Shibata, S., “Development of Experimental Setup to Create Novel Mental Disorder Model Rats Using Small Mobile Robot,” In: Proceedings of the IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, Taipei, Taiwan, (2010) pp. 3905–3910.Google Scholar
8.File, S. E. and Hyde, J. R., “Can social interaction be used to measure anxiety?,” Br. J. Pharmacol. 62 (1), 19–24 (1978).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
9.File, S. E. and Seth, P., “A review of 25 years of the social interaction test,” Eur. J. Pharmacol. 463 (1–3), 35–53 (2003).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
10.Abel, E. L., “A further analysis of physiological changes in rats in the forced swim test,” Physiol Behav. 56 (4), 795–800 (1994).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
11.Gleason, S. D. and Witkin, J. M., “A parametric analysis of punishment frequency as a determinant of the response to chlordiazepoxide in the Vogel conflict test in rats,” Pharmacol. Biochem. Behav. 87 (3), 380–385 (2007).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
12.Jackson, H. F. and Broadhurst, P. L., “The effects of Parachlorophenylalanine and stimulus intensity on open-field test measures in rats,” Neuropharmacology 21 (12), 1279–1282 (1982).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
13.Webb, B. and Consi, T., Biorobotics: Methods and Applications (MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 2001).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
14.Krause, J., Winfield, A. F. T. and Deneubourg, J. L., “Interactive robots in experimental biology,” Trends Ecology Evol. 26 (7), 369–375 (2011).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
15.Garnier, S., “From ants to robots and back: How robotics can contribute to the study of collective animal behavior,” Bio-Inspired Self-Organizing Robot. Syst. 355, 105–120 (2011).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
16.Asadpour, M., Tache, F., Caprari, G., Karlen, W. and Siegwart, R., “Robot-animal interaction: Perception and behavior of insbot,” Int. J. Adv. Robot. Syst. 3 (2), 93–98 (2006).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
17.Landgraf, T., Oertel, M., Rhiel, D. and Rojas, R., “A Biomimetic Honeybee Robot for the Analysis of the Honeybee Dance Communication System,” In: Proceedings of the International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, Taipei, Taiwan (2010) pp. 3097–3102.Google Scholar
18.Gribovskiy, A., Halloy, J., Deneubourg, J. L., Bleuler, H. and Mondada, F., “Towards Mixed Societies of Chickens and Robots,” In: Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference Intelligent Robots and Systems, Taipei, Taiwan (2010) pp. 4722–4728.Google Scholar
19.Meyer, J., Guillot, A., Girard, B., Khamassi, M., Pirim, P. and Berthoz, A., “The Psikharpax project: Towards building an artificial rat,” Robot. Auton. Syst. 50 (4), 211–223 (2005).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
20.Shi, Q., Ishii, H., Miyagishima, S., Konno, S., Fumino, S., Takanishi, A., Okabayashi, S., Iida, N. and Kimura, H., “Development of a hybrid wheel-legged mobile robot WR-3 designed for the behavior analysis of rats,” Adv. Robot. 25 (18), 2255–2272 (2011).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
21.Ishii, H., Masuda, Y., Miyagishima, S., Fumino, S., Takanishi, A., Laschi, C., Mazzolai, B., Mattoli, V. and Dario, P., “Design and Development of Biomimetic Quadruped Robot for Behavior Studies of Rats and Mice,” In: Proceedings of the Annual International Conference of the IEEE EMBS, Minnesota, USA (2009a) pp. 7192–7195.Google Scholar
22.Ishii, H., Komura, A., Masuda, Y., Miyagishima, S., Takanishi, A., Okabayashi, S., Iida, N. and Kimura, H., “Development of Quadruped Animaroid for Social Interaction Test with Rats and Mice,” In: Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference Advanced Intelligent Mechatronics, Suntec Convention and Exhibition Center, Singapore (2009b) pp. 1724–1729.Google Scholar
23.Eguchi, Y., Rat Anatomy Pictures (Gakusosya Press, Tokyo, Japan, 1983).Google Scholar
24.Pellis, S. M. and McKenna, M. M., “Intrinsic and extrinsic influences on play fighting in rats: Effects of dominance, partner's playfulness, temperament and neonatal exposure to testosterone propionate,” Behav. Brain Res. 50 (1–2), 135–45 (1992).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
25.Ishii, H., Ogura, M., Kurisu, S. and Takanishi, A., “Development of Robotic Experimental System for Behavior Analysis of Rodents,” In: Proceedings of the IEEE/RAS-EMBS International Conference Biomedical Robotics and Biomechatronics, Pisa, Italy (2006) pp. 739–743.Google Scholar
26.Shi, Q., Ishii, H. and Takanishi, A., Image Processing and Behavior Planning for Robot-Rat Interaction,” In: Proceedings of the IEEE RAS and EMBS International Conference on Biomedical Robotics and Biomechatronics, Roma, Italy (2012) pp. 967–973.Google Scholar
27.Varlinskaya, E. I., Spear, L. P. and Spear, N. E., “Social behavior and social motivation in adolescent rats: Role of housing conditions and partner's activity,” Physiol. Behav. 67 (4), 475–482 (1999).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
28.Kršiak, M., “Ethopharmacology: A historical perspective,” Neurosci. Biobehav. Rev. 15 (4), 439–445 (1991).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed