Cyborg Insect Factory: Automatic Assembly System to Build up Insect-computer Hybrid Robot Based on Vision-guided Robotic Arm Manipulation of Custom Bipolar Electrodes

TL;DR

This paper presents an automated assembly system for insect-computer hybrid robots that uses vision-guided robotic arms to implant electrodes, enabling scalable production with performance comparable to manual assembly.

Contribution

Introduces a novel automatic assembly method combining vision-guided robotic manipulation and custom electrode implantation for insect-robot hybrids.

Findings

Automated assembly reduces preparation time significantly.

Hybrid robots achieve control performance similar to manual systems.

Multi-agent outdoor terrain navigation demonstrates practical viability.

Abstract

The advancement of insect-computer hybrid robots holds significant promise for navigating complex terrains and enhancing robotics applications. This study introduced an automatic assembly method for insect-computer hybrid robots, which was accomplished by mounting backpack with precise implantation of custom-designed bipolar electrodes. We developed a stimulation protocol for the intersegmental membrane between pronotum and mesothorax of the Madagascar hissing cockroach, allowing for bipolar electrodes' automatic implantation using a robotic arm. The assembly process was integrated with a deep learning-based vision system to accurately identify the implantation site, and a dedicated structure to fix the insect (68 s for the whole assembly process). The automatically assembled hybrid robots demonstrated steering control (over 70 degrees for 0.4 s stimulation) and deceleration control (68.2% speed reduction for 0.4 s stimulation), matching the performance of manually assembled systems. Furthermore, a multi-agent system consisting of 4 hybrid robots successfully covered obstructed outdoor terrain (80.25% for 10 minutes 31 seconds), highlighting the feasibility of mass-producing these systems for practical applications. The proposed automatic assembly strategy reduced preparation time for the insect-computer hybrid robots while maintaining their precise control, laying a foundation for scalable production and deployment in real-world applications.