Analog control with two Artificial Axons

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates how two artificial axons can be used as control elements to steer a remote control car towards a light source, linking nerve cell electrophysiology to behavior.

Contribution

It introduces a novel application of artificial axons as control units for robotic behavior, bridging synthetic neurophysiology and autonomous control.

Findings

Artificial axons can effectively control a robotic system.

Sensory input modulates axon firing rates to produce directional control.

The approach demonstrates a link between synthetic nerve cell activity and behavior.

Abstract

The artificial axon is a recently introduced synthetic assembly of supported lipid bilayers and voltage gated ion channels, displaying the basic electrophysiology of nerve cells. Here we demonstrate the use of two artificial axons as control elements to achieve a simple task. Namely, we steer a remote control car towards a light source, using the sensory input dependent firing rate of the axons as the control signal for turning left or right. We present the result in the form of the analysis of a movie of the car approaching the light source. In general terms, with this work we pursue a constructivist approach to exploring the nexus between machine language at the nerve cell level and behavior.