A dual-channel FM transmitter for acquisition of flight muscle activities from the freely flying hawkmoth, Agrius convolvuli

Electromyography of Flight Muscles in Free-Flying Chestnut Tiger Butterfly, Parantica sita

The chestnut tiger butterfly, Parantica sita, can undertake long-distance migrations. They flap their wings for power flight and hold the wings for gliding; such repertoires of wing movements may be the key to explaining their excellent flight abilities. Measuring flight muscle activity using the electromyogram (EMG) is the first step toward understanding the neuromuscular mechanism of active flight control. Free-flight EMG measurements have, however, not been reported in butterflies. This study developed a method to acquire two-channel EMGs from free-flying P. sita. Stable EMG recordings were acquired using a monopolar electrode by attaching a small pre-amplifier to the dorsal mesonotum. The common-mode noise between channels was resolved by inserting a reference electrode into the mesonotum midline. The EMGs of five flight muscles were measured during free-flight and their activation phases were analyzed. The EMGs of all five muscles demonstrated a burst of spikes per stroke cycle, in contrast to the few spikes per cycle in the EMGs of hawkmoths, which would reflect the differences in wing kinematics and flight abilities. Further analyses, combining the technique developed in this study with high-speed videography, will clarify the neuromuscular mechanisms underlying the flight ability of P. sita.

Biohybrid robots: recent progress, challenges, and perspectives

The past ten years have seen the rapid expansion of the field of biohybrid robotics. By combining engineered, synthetic components with living biological materials, new robotics solutions have been developed that harness the adaptability of living muscles, the sensitivity of living sensory cells, and even the computational abilities of living neurons. Biohybrid robotics has taken the popular and scientific media by storm with advances in the field, moving biohybrid robotics out of science fiction and into real science and engineering. So how did we get here, and where should the field of biohybrid robotics go next? In this perspective, we first provide the historical context of crucial subareas of biohybrid robotics by reviewing the past 10+ years of advances in microorganism-bots and sperm-bots, cyborgs, and tissue-based robots. We then present critical challenges facing the field and provide our perspectives on the vital future steps toward creating autonomous living machines.

The Rapid Rise of Next-Generation Natural History

Many ecologists have lamented the demise of natural history and have attributed this decline to a misguided view that natural history is outdated and unscientific. Although there is a perception that the focus in ecology and conservation have shifted away from descriptive natural history research and training toward hypothetico-deductive research, we argue that natural history has entered a new phase that we call “next-generation natural history.” This renaissance of natural history is characterized by technological and statistical advances that aid in collecting detailed observations systematically over broad spatial and temporal extents. The technological advances that have increased exponentially in the last decade include electronic sensors such as camera-traps and acoustic recorders, aircraft- and satellite-based remote sensing, animal-borne biologgers, genetics and genomics methods, and community science programs. Advances in statistics and computation have aided in analyzing a growing quantity of observations to reveal patterns in nature. These robust next-generation natural history datasets have transformed the anecdotal perception of natural history observations into systematically collected observations that collectively constitute the foundation for hypothetico-deductive research and can be leveraged and applied to conservation and management. These advances are encouraging scientists to conduct and embrace detailed descriptions of nature that remain a critically important component of the scientific endeavor. Finally, these next-generation natural history observations are engaging scientists and non-scientists alike with new documentations of the wonders of nature. Thus, we celebrate next-generation natural history for encouraging people to experience nature directly.

Automatic tracking of free-flying insects using a cable-driven robot

Flying insects have evolved to develop efficient strategies to navigate in natural environments. Yet, studying them experimentally is difficult because of their small size and high speed of motion. Consequently, previous studies were limited to tethered flights, hovering flights, or restricted flights within confined laboratory chambers. Here, we report the development of a cable-driven parallel robot, named lab-on-cables, for tracking and interacting with a free-flying insect. In this approach, cameras are mounted on cables, so as to move automatically with the insect. We designed a reactive controller that minimizes the online tracking error between the position of the flying insect, provided by an embedded stereo-vision system, and the position of the moving lab, computed from the cable lengths. We validated the lab-on-cables with Agrotis ipsilon moths (ca. 2 centimeters long) flying freely up to 3 meters per second. We further demonstrated, using prerecorded trajectories, the possibility to track other insects such as fruit flies or mosquitoes. The lab-on-cables is relevant to free-flight studies and may be used in combination with stimulus delivery to assess sensory modulation of flight behavior (e.g., pheromone-controlled anemotaxis in moths).

A prototype RFID tag for detecting bumblebee visitations within fragmented landscapes

Detecting the arbitrary movements of fast-moving insects under field conditions is notoriously difficult because existing technologies are limited by issues of size, weight, range and cost. Here, we establish proof-of-concept for a prototype long-range, passive radio frequency identification (RFID) tagging system for detecting bumblebees and similar sized insects. The prototype tags, weighing 81 mg (49% of mean bee body weight), were flown by bumblebees in a glasshouse and detected at a distance of 1.5 m from a 2 W UHF reader with two aerials. This detection distance is two orders of magnitude greater than existing RFID tags that can be flown by medium-sized bees and, thus, is a significant breakthrough for insect tracking that could be applied to plant conservation and restoration efforts in fragmented landscapes.

Proof-of-concept has been successfully established and, with further development, we are likely to optimize the system by reducing tag size and weight to limit effects on bee behaviour, and by increasing the detection distance. We envisage the production system being used to detect and track bee movement pathways within a designed network of field-deployed low-cost readers and aerials. The production system could be used in a wide variety of scientific and commercial applications.

Insect-Computer Hybrid Robot

An insect–computer hybrid robot, often referred to as a biological machine or an insect cyborg, is the fusion of a living insect platform and artificial microdevices, including stimulators, sensors, and computers. When compared with the artificial robots, a hybrid robot can be operated as an autonomous mobile machine with low energy consumption and hardware costs. A hybrid machine can verify various biological hypotheses, such as function determination, by stimulating a muscle or any other structure.

Flight motor modulation with speed in the hawkmoth Manduca sexta

The theoretical underpinnings for flight, including animal flight with flapping wings, predict a curvilinear U-shaped or J-shaped relationship between flight speed and the power required to maintain that speed. Experimental data have confirmed this relationship for a variety of bird and bat species but not insects, possibly due to differences in aerodynamics and physiology or experimental difficulties. Here we quantify modulation of the main flight motor muscles (the dorsolongitudinal and dorsoventral) via electromyography in hawkmoths (Manduca sexta) flying freely over a range of speeds in a wind tunnel and show that these insects exhibit a U-shaped speed-power relationship, with a minimum power speed of 2ms^-1, indicating that at least large flying insects achieve sufficiently high flight speeds that drag and power become limiting factors.

Recent developments in the study of insect flight

Here we review recent contributions to the study of insect flight, in particular those brought about by advances in experimental techniques. We focus particularly on the following areas: wing flexibility and deformation, the physiology and biophysics of asynchronous insect flight muscle, the aerodynamics of flight, and stability and maneuverability. This recent research reveals the importance of wing flexibility to insect flight, provides a detailed model of how asynchronous flight muscle functions and how it may have evolved, synthesizes many recent studies of insect flight aerodynamics into a broad-reaching summary of unsteady flight aerodynamics, and highlights new insights into the sources of flight stability in insects. The focus on experimental techniques and recently developed apparatus shows how these advancements have occurred and point the way towards future experiments.

Miniature wireless recording and stimulation system for rodent behavioural testing

OBJECTIVE

Elucidation of neural activity underpinning rodent behaviour has traditionally been hampered by the use of tethered systems and human involvement. Furthermore the combination of deep-brain stimulation (DBS) and various neural recording modalities can lead to complex and time-consuming laboratory setups. For studies of this type, novel tools are required to drive forward this research.

APPROACH

A miniature wireless system weighing 8.5 g (including battery) was developed for rodent use that combined multichannel DBS and local-field potential (LFP) recordings. Its performance was verified in a working memory task that involved 4-channel fronto-hippocampal LFP recording and bilateral constant-current fimbria-fornix DBS. The system was synchronised with video-tracking for extraction of LFP at discrete task phases, and DBS was activated intermittently at discrete phases of the task.

MAIN RESULTS

In addition to having a fast set-up time, the system could reliably transmit continuous LFP at over 8 hours across 3-5 m distances. During the working memory task, LFP pertaining to discrete task phases was extracted and compared with well-known neural correlates of active exploratory behaviour in rodents. DBS could be wirelessly activated/deactivated at any part of the experiment during EEG recording and transmission, allowing for a seamless integration of this modality.

SIGNIFICANCE

The wireless system combines a small size with a level of robustness and versatility that can greatly simplify rodent behavioural experiments involving EEG recording and DBS. Designed for versatility and simplicity, the small size and low-cost of the system and its receiver allow for enhanced portability, fast experimental setup times, and pave the way for integration with more complex behaviour.

Oral dosing of chemical indicators for in vivo monitoring of Ca2+ dynamics in insect muscle

This paper proposes a remarkably facile staining protocol to visually investigate dynamic physiological events in insect tissues. We attempted to monitor Ca²⁺ dynamics during contraction of electrically stimulated living muscle. Advances in circuit miniaturization and insect neuromuscular physiology have enabled the hybridization of living insects and man-made electronic components, such as microcomputers, the result of which has been often referred as a Living Machine, Biohybrid, or Cyborg Insect. In order for Cyborg Insects to be of practical use, electrical stimulation parameters need to be optimized to induce desired muscle response (motor action) and minimize the damage in the muscle due to the electrical stimuli. Staining tissues and organs as well as measuring the dynamics of chemicals of interest in muscle should be conducted to quantitatively and systematically evaluate the effect of various stimulation parameters on the muscle response. However, existing staining processes require invasive surgery and/or arduous procedures using genetically encoded sensors. In this study, we developed a non-invasive and remarkably facile method for staining, in which chemical indicators can be orally administered (oral dosing). A chemical Ca²⁺ indicator was orally introduced into an insect of interest via food containing the chemical indicator and the indicator diffused from the insect digestion system to the target muscle tissue. We found that there was a positive relationship between the fluorescence intensity of the indicator and the frequency of electrical stimulation which indicates the orally dosed indicator successfully monitored Ca²⁺ dynamics in the muscle tissue. This oral dosing method has a potential to globally stain tissues including neurons, and investigating various physiological events in insects.

A wearable wireless platform for visually stimulating small flying insects

Linking neurons and muscles to their roles in behavior requires not only the ability to measure their response during unrestrained movement but also the ability to stimulate them and observe the behavioral results. Current wireless stimulation technologies can be carried by rodent-sized animals and very large insects. However, the mass and volume of these devices make them impractical for studying smaller animals like insects. Here we present a battery-powered electronics platform suitable to be carried on a flying locust (2.7 g). The device has an IR-based (infrared) receiver, can deliver optical or electrical stimulation, occupies a volume of 0.1 cm(3), and weighs ~280 mg. We show the device is capable of powering two white SMD light emitting diodes (LEDs) for ~4 min and can be recharged in ~20 min. We demonstrate that our system shows no crosstalk with an IR-based Vicon tracking system. The entire package is made from commercial off-the-shelf components and requires no microfabrication.

Insect-machine hybrid system

We demonstrated the remote control of insects in free flight via an implantable radio-equipped miniature neural stimulating system. This paper summarizes these results. The pronotum mounted system consisted of neural stimulators, muscular stimulators, a radio transceiver-equipped microcontroller and a microbattery. Flight initiation, cessation and elevation control were accomplished through neural stimulus of the brain which elicited, suppressed or modulated wing oscillation. Turns were triggered through the direct muscular stimulus of either of the basalar muscles. We characterized the response times, success rates, and free-flight trajectories elicited by our neural control systems in remotely-controlled beetles. We believe this type of technology will open the door to in-flight perturbation and recording of insect flight responses.

Challenges and prospects in the telemetry of insects

Radio telemetry has been widely used to study the space use and movement behaviour of vertebrates, but transmitter sizes have only recently become small enough to allow tracking of insects under natural field conditions. Here, we review the available literature on insect telemetry using active (battery-powered) radio transmitters and compare this technology to harmonic radar and radio frequency identification (RFID) which use passive tags (i.e. without a battery). The first radio telemetry studies with insects were published in the late 1980s, and subsequent studies have addressed aspects of insect ecology, behaviour and evolution. Most insect telemetry studies have focused on habitat use and movement, including quantification of movement paths, home range sizes, habitat selection, and movement distances. Fewer studies have addressed foraging behaviour, activity patterns, migratory strategies, or evolutionary aspects. The majority of radio telemetry studies have been conducted outside the tropics, usually with beetles (Coleoptera) and crickets (Orthoptera), but bees (Hymenoptera), dobsonflies (Megaloptera), and dragonflies (Odonata) have also been radio-tracked. In contrast to the active transmitters used in radio telemetry, the much lower weight of harmonic radar and RFID tags allows them to be used with a broader range of insect taxa. However, the fixed detection zone of a stationary radar unit (< 1 km diameter) and the restricted detection distance of RFID tags (usually < 1-5 m) constitute major constraints of these technologies compared to radio telemetry. Most of the active transmitters in radio telemetry have been applied to insects with a body mass exceeding 1 g, but smaller species in the range 0.2-0.5 g (e.g. bumblebees and orchid bees) have now also been tracked. Current challenges of radio-tracking insects in the field are related to the constraints of a small transmitter, including short battery life (7-21 days), limited tracking range on the ground (100-500 m), and a transmitter weight that sometimes approaches the weight of a given insect (the ratio of tag mass to body mass varies from 2 to 100%). The attachment of radio transmitters may constrain insect behaviour and incur significant energetic costs, but few studies have addressed this in detail. Future radio telemetry studies should address (i) a larger number of species from different insect families and functional groups, (ii) a better coverage of tropical regions, (iii) intraspecific variability between sexes, ages, castes, and individuals, and (iv) a larger tracking range via aerial surveys with helicopters and aeroplanes equipped with external antennae. Furthermore, field and laboratory studies, including observational and experimental approaches as well as theoretical modelling, could help to clarify the behavioural and energetic consequences of transmitter attachment. Finally, the development of commercially available systems for automated tracking and potential future options of insect telemetry from space will provide exciting new avenues for quantifying movement and space use of insects from local to global spatial scales.

A battery-free multichannel digital neural/EMG telemetry system for flying insects

This paper presents a digital neural/EMG telemetry system small enough and lightweight enough to permit recording from insects in flight. It has a measured flight package mass of only 38 mg. This system includes a single-chip telemetry integrated circuit (IC) employing RF power harvesting for battery-free operation, with communication via modulated backscatter in the UHF (902-928 MHz) band. An on-chip 11-bit ADC digitizes 10 neural channels with a sampling rate of 26.1 kSps and 4 EMG channels at 1.63 kSps, and telemeters this data wirelessly to a base station. The companion base station transceiver includes an RF transmitter of +36 dBm (4 W) output power to wirelessly power the telemetry IC, and a digital receiver with a sensitivity of -70 dBm for 10⁻⁵ BER at 5.0 Mbps to receive the data stream from the telemetry IC. The telemetry chip was fabricated in a commercial 0.35 μ m 4M1P (4 metal, 1 poly) CMOS process. The die measures 2.36 × 1.88 mm, is 250 μm thick, and is wire bonded into a flex circuit assembly measuring 4.6 × 6.8 mm.

Wingbeat kinematics and motor control of yaw turns in Anna's hummingbirds (Calypte anna)

The biomechanical and neuromuscular mechanisms used by different animals to generate turns in flight are highly variable. Body size and body plan exert some influence, e.g. birds typically roll their body to orient forces generated by the wings whereas insects are capable of turning via left-right wingbeat asymmetries. Turns are also relatively brief and have low repeatability, with almost every wingbeat serving a different function throughout the change in heading. Here we present an analysis of Anna's hummingbirds (Calypte anna) as they fed continuously from an artificial feeder revolving around the outside of the animal. This setup allowed for examination of sustained changes in yaw without requiring any corresponding changes in pitch, roll or body position. Hummingbirds sustained yaw turns by expanding the wing stroke amplitude of the outer wing during the downstroke and by altering the deviation of the wingtip path during both downstroke and upstroke. The latter led to a shift in the inner-outer stroke plane angle during the upstroke and shifts in the elevation of the stroke plane and in the deviation of the wingtip path during both strokes. These features are generally more similar to how insects, as opposed to birds, turn. However, time series analysis also revealed considerable stroke-to-stroke variation. Changes in the stroke amplitude and the wingtip velocity were highly cross-correlated, as were changes in the stroke deviation and the elevation of the stroke plane. As was the case for wingbeat kinematics, electromyogram recordings from pectoral and wing muscles were highly variable, but no correlations were found between these two features of motor control. The high variability of both kinematic and muscle activation features indicates a high level of wingbeat-to-wingbeat adjustments during sustained yaw. The activation timing of the muscles was more repeatable than the activation intensity, which suggests that the former may be constrained by harmonic motion and that the latter may play a large role in kinematic adjustments. Comparing the revolution frequency of the feeder with measurements of free flight yaws reveals that feeder tracking, even at one revolution every 2 s, is well below the maximum yaw capacity of the hummingbirds.

Possibilities offered by implantable miniaturized cuff-electrodes for insect neurophysiology

Recent advances in microsystems technology led to a miniaturization of cuff-electrodes, which suggests these electrodes not just for long-term neuronal recordings in mammalians, but also in medium-sized insects. In this study we investigated the possibilities offered by cuff-electrodes for neuroethology using insects as a model organism. The implantation in the neck of a tropical bushcricket resulted in high quality extracellular nerve recordings of different units responding to various acoustic, vibratory, optical and mechanical stimuli. In addition, multi-unit nerve activity related to leg movements was recorded in insects walking on a trackball. A drawback of bi-polar nerve recordings obtained during tethered flight was overlay of nerve activity with large amplitude muscle potentials. Interestingly, cuff-electrode recordings were robust to withstand walking and flight activity so that good quality nerve recordings were possible even three days after electrode implantation. Recording multi-unit nerve activity in intact insects required an elaborate spike sorting algorithm in order to discriminate neuronal units responding to external stimuli from background activity. In future, a combination of miniaturized cuff-electrodes and light-weight amplifiers equipped with a wireless transmitter will allow the investigation of neuronal processes underlying natural behavior in freely moving insects. By this means cuff-electrodes may contribute to the development of realistic neuronal models simulating neuronal processes underlying natural insect behavior, such like mate choice and predator avoidance.

Active sensing in a freely walking spider: look where to go

The Central American hunting spider Cupiennius salei, like most other spiders, has eight eyes, one pair of principal eyes and three pairs of secondary eyes. The principal eyes and one pair of the secondary eyes have almost completely overlapping visual fields, and presumably differ in function. The retinae of the principal eyes can be moved independently by two pairs of eye muscles each, whereas the secondary eyes do not have such eye muscles. The behavioural relevance of retinal movements of freely moving spiders was investigated by a novel dual-channel telemetric registration of the eye muscle activities. Walking spiders shifted the ipsilateral retina with respect to the walking direction before, during and after a turning movement. The change in the direction of vision in the ipsilateral anterior median eye was highly correlated with the walking direction, regardless of the actual light conditions. The contralateral retina remained in its resting position. This indicates that Cupiennius salei shifts it visual field in the walking direction not only during but sometimes previous to an intended turn, and therefore "peers" actively into the direction it wants to turn.

Recent developments in the remote radio control of insect flight

The continuing miniaturization of digital circuits and the development of low power radio systems coupled with continuing studies into the neurophysiology and dynamics of insect flight are enabling a new class of implantable interfaces capable of controlling insects in free flight for extended periods. We provide context for these developments, review the state-of-the-art and discuss future directions in this field.

Flexible split-ring electrode for insect flight biasing using multisite neural stimulation

We describe a flexible multisite microelectrode for insect flight biasing using neural stimulation. The electrode is made of two layers of polyimide (PI) with gold sandwiched in between in a split-ring geometry. The split-ring design in conjunction with the flexibility of the PI allows for a simple insertion process and provides good attachment between the electrode and ventral nerve cord of the insect. Stimulation sites are located at the ends of protruding tips that are circularly distributed inside the split-ring structure. These protruding tips penetrate into the connective tissue surrounding the nerve cord. We have been able to insert the electrode into pupae of the giant sphinx moth Manduca sexta as early as seven days before the adult moth emerges, and we are able to use the multisite electrode to deliver electrical stimuli that evoke multidirectional, graded abdominal motions in both pupae and adult moths. Finally, in loosely tethered flight, we have used stimulation through the flexible microelectrodes to alter the abdominal angle, thus causing the flying moth to deviate to the left or right of its intended path.

Remote radio control of insect flight

We demonstrated the remote control of insects in free flight via an implantable radio-equipped miniature neural stimulating system. The pronotum mounted system consisted of neural stimulators, muscular stimulators, a radio transceiver-equipped microcontroller and a microbattery. Flight initiation, cessation and elevation control were accomplished through neural stimulus of the brain which elicited, suppressed or modulated wing oscillation. Turns were triggered through the direct muscular stimulus of either of the basalar muscles. We characterized the response times, success rates, and free-flight trajectories elicited by our neural control systems in remotely controlled beetles. We believe this type of technology will open the door to in-flight perturbation and recording of insect flight responses.

Active control of free flight manoeuvres in a hawkmoth, Agrius convolvuli

By combining optical triangulation with the comb-fringe technique and dual-channel telemetry, wing kinematics and body attitudes accompanying muscle activities of free-flying male hawkmoths were recorded synchronously when they performed flight manoeuvres elicited by a female sex pheromone. The results indicate that the wing leading edge angular position at the ventral stroke reversal, which can be decomposed by two orthogonal angular parameters (a flapping angle and a deviation angle), is well controllable. Two specific flight muscles, the dorsal-ventral muscle (DVM, indirect muscle, a wing elevator) and the third axillary muscle (3AXM, direct muscle, a wing retractor), can modulate the flapping angle and the deviation angle, respectively, by means of regulating the firing timing of muscle activities. The firing timing can be expressed by the firing latency absolutely, which is just before the timing of ventral stroke reversal. The results illustrate that lengthening the firing latency of the DVM and of the 3AXM can increase the flapping angle and the deviation angle, respectively, which both strengthen the downstroke at the ventral stroke reversal. The relationship of bilateral asymmetry shows that the bilateral differences in the firing latency of the DVM and of the 3AXM will cause bilateral differences in the wing position, which accompany the variations of yaw and roll angles in time course. This implies the contribution of the two muscles to active steering controls during turning or banking, though the DVM being an indirect muscle was generally treated as a power generator. Finally, the relationship between the pitch angle and the 3AXM latency, deduced from the relationships between the pitch angle and the deviation angle and between the deviation angle and the 3AXM latency, shows that lengthening the 3AXM latency can increase the pitch angle at the ventral stroke reversal by moving the wing tip far away from the centre of gravity of the body, which indicates a functional role of the 3AXM in active pitching control.

Behavioral context-dependent modulation of descending statocyst pathways during free walking, as revealed by optical telemetry in crayfish

Crustacean posture control is based on a complex interaction between the statocyst input and other sensory inputs as well as the animal's behavioral context. We examined the effects of behavioral condition on the activity of descending statocyst pathways using an optical telemetry system that allowed underwater recording of neuronal signals from freely behaving crayfish. A functionally identified statocyst-driven interneuron that directionally responded to body tilting without a footboard and to tilting of the footboard was found to show complicated responses depending upon the ongoing behavior of the animal when it freely walked around in water on the aquarium floor. The spike firing frequency of the interneuron increased significantly during walking. When the animal stood or walked on the tilted floor, the interneuron activity represented the tilt angle and direction if the abdomen was actively flexed, but not if it was extended. Two other statocyst-driven descending interneurons were found to be affected differently by the animal's behavioral condition: the spike activity of one interneuron increased during walking, but its directional response on the tilted floor was completely absent during abdominal posture movements, whereas that of another interneuron was enhanced during abdominal extension only, representing the tilt angle and direction. The results obtained in this study provide the first experimental demonstration that crustacean postural control under natural conditions is dependent on very fine aspects of the animal's locomotor behavioral context, suggesting far more complex control mechanisms than those expected from the experimental data obtained in isolated and fixed animals.

Insect-Controlled Robot – Evaluation of Adaptation Ability –

Insects can adapt to various environments and perform adaptive behaviors with their simple nervous system. Understanding of the mechanisms underlying these adaptive behaviors has been expected to lead to novel control systems in robotics. In this study, we proposed and developed a robot controlled by an insect in order to evaluate the adaptability of insects. This robot reproduced the behavior of a male silkmoth (Bombyx mori) tethered on it with high precision, and was successful in reproducing the pheromone-oriented behavior that is an adaptive behavior of the male silkmoth. When we changed the forward motor gain of the robot, its speed changed based on the manipulation. However, the manipulated robot performed the same ability for the sex-pheromone orientation as existed before the manipulation. This implied that the programmed behavior pattern of the pheromone-oriented behavior was robust and important for successful orientation, which did not depend on the speed of movement. This robot exhibits a new method to manipulate interaction between the body and the environment and is expected to prove useful as a new experimental platform for analyzing adaptability.

Biotelemetry: a mechanistic approach to ecology

Remote measurement of the physiology, behaviour and energetic status of free-living animals is made possible by a variety of techniques that we refer to collectively as 'biotelemetry'. This set of tools ranges from transmitters that send their signals to receivers up to a few kilometers away to those that send data to orbiting satellites and, more frequently, to devices that log data. They enable researchers to document, for long uninterrupted periods, how undisturbed organisms interact with each other and their environment in real time. In spite of advances enabling the monitoring of many physiological and behavioural variables across a range of taxa of various sizes, these devices have yet to be embraced widely by the ecological community. Our review suggests that this technology has immense potential for research in basic and applied animal ecology. Efforts to incorporate biotelemetry into broader ecological research programs should yield novel information that has been challenging to collect historically from free-ranging animals in their natural environments. Examples of research that would benefit from biotelemetry include the assessment of animal responses to different anthropogenic perturbations and the development of life-time energy budgets.

Microcontroller-based wireless recorder for biomedical signals

A portable multichannel system is described for the recording of biomedical signals wirelessly. Instead of using the conversional time-division analog-modulation method, the technique of digital multiplexing was applied to increase the number of signal channels to 4. Detailed design considerations and functional allocation of the system is discussed. The frontend unit was modularly designed to condition the input signal in an optimal manner. Then, the microcontroller handled the tasks of data conversion, wireless transmission, as well as providing the ability of simple preprocessing such as waveform averaging or rectification. The low-power nature of this microcontroller affords the benefit of battery operation and hence, patient isolation of the system. Finally, a single-chip receiver, which compatible with the RF transmitter of the microcontroller, was used to implement a compact interface with the host computer. An application of this portable recorder for low-back pain studies is shown. This device can simultaneously record one ECG and two surface EMG wirelessly, thus, is helpful in relieving patients' anxiety devising clinical measurement. Such an approach, microcontroller-based wireless measurement, could be an important trend for biomedical instrumentation and we help that this paper could be useful for other colleagues.

Flexible multielectrodes can resolve multiple muscles in an insect appendage

Research into the neuromechanical basis of behavior, either in biomechanics, neuroethology, or neuroscience, is frequently limited by methods of data collection. Two of the most pressing needs are for methods with which to (1) record from multiple neurons or muscles simultaneously and (2) perform this recording in intact, behaving animals. In this paper we present the fabrication and testing of flexible multielectrode arrays (fMEAs) that move us significantly towards these goals. The fMEAs were used to record the activity of several distinct units in the coxa of the cockroach Blaberus discoidalis. The devices fabricated here address the first goal in two ways: (1) their flexibility allows them to be inserted into an animal and guided through internal tissues in order to access distinct groups of neurons and muscles and (2) their recording site geometry has been tuned to suit the anatomy under study, yielding multichannel spike waveforms that are easily separable under conditions of spike overlap. The flexible nature of the devices simultaneously addresses the second goal, in that it is less likely to interfere with the natural movement of the animal.

An autonomous implantable computer for neural recording and stimulation in unrestrained primates

To perform neurobiological experiments on freely behaving primates, we have developed a miniature battery-powered implantable computer capable of recording and stimulating through chronic electrodes in the cortex. The device has: (1) an analog front end with a four-pole bandpass filter (500 Hz-5 kHz), programmable gain and offset nulling; (2) an analog-to-digital converter to sample the data at 11.7 ksps; (3) a programmable microcontroller to discriminate spikes in real time and perform computations; (4) a stimulator to deliver biphasic current pulses of up to 100 muA with variable pulse width and frequency; (5) a 4 Mbit non-volatile memory to store biological data; (6) a 57.6 kbps infrared data link for wireless communications with a hand-held or desktop computer. The device is enclosed in a 5.5 cm x 5 cm x 3 cm titanium casing on the monkey's head along with a 3.3 V lithium battery and an array of cortical electrodes. In in vivo tests, the device was able to record stable cell discharge continuously for time periods of a week or more. After downloading the parameters for recording, stimulation, discrimination, and other computations, the device is capable of operating autonomously, delivering stimuli to one electrode triggered by spikes recorded at a separate site.

Miniature telemetry system for the recording of action and field potentials

A simple miniature telemetry system for neural recording from freely moving rats is described. It weighs only 1% of the body weight of an adult rat and its recordings are devoid of artifacts due to the animal movement. Together with its long recording time (more than 38 h), its isotropic nature, which is essential for working with freely moving animals, offers further advantages. A frequency-modulation receiver with a flat frequency response down to 6 Hz has been designed for wide-spectrum recording of neural signals, allowing field potential recordings. A detailed printed-circuit layout and the lack of a trimming requirement will allow the system to be easily duplicated by other neuroscientists who are not familiar with wireless-transmission technologies.

An optical telemetry system for underwater recording of electromyogram and neuronal activity from non-tethered crayfish

We have developed an optical telemetry system for recording electrical signals associated with muscle and neuronal activities from freely walking crayfish under water. The device was made from conventional electronic parts which are commercially available, utilizing infrared light (880 nm) for signal transmission. Two or four channels of biological signals were multiplexed, the voltage of each data point modulated to the duration of subcarrier pulses and further to the interval of narrower carrier pulses that directly drove the infrared light emission diode (IRLED) under water. The light-pulse modulated signals were received by photodiodes and demodulated to restore the original two or four channel signals. Electrical recordings using wired electrodes and conventional amplifiers revealed that the optically transmitted signals were consistent with the wire-transmitted ones. In order to test the performance of this system, we recorded electromyograms (EMGs) from the second and third walking legs on each side of crayfish together with the neuronal activity in the ventral nerve cord. The results confirmed our previous observation in tethered crayfish that the background tonus of leg muscles showed an increase preceding their rhythmic activation.

Changing Motor Patterns of the 3rd Axillary Muscle Activities Associated with Longitudinal Control in Freely Flying Hawkmoths

The 3rd axillary muscles (3AXMs) in the mesothorax in hawkmoths are direct flight muscles and pull forewings back along to the body axis. The 3AXMs are regarded as steering muscles because of their changeable activities during turning flight under tethered conditions. We investigated activities of the upper unit of the 3AXMs during free flight with a micro-telemetry device and captured body and wing movements by high-speed cameras. The 3AXM was activated with 1 to 3 spikes per each wingbeat cycle but sometimes ceased to fire. The phase of the onset of the activities was, even though it was variable, close to the phase of the elevator muscle activities. Therefore the upper unit of the 3AXM activities would affect upstroke properties phasically including wing retractions. We focused on longitudinal flight control and identified a correlation between the phase of the 3AXM and body pitch angle, which is important kinematical parameter for longitudinal control in insect flight. The phasic changes of the 3AXM activities would support quick changes in longitudinal control.

A Radio-Telemetry System With a Shape Memory Alloy Microelectrode for Neural Recording of Freely Moving Insects

A radio frequency (RF) telemetry system with a shape memory alloy microelectrode was designed and fabricated. The total size and weight are 15 mm x 8 mm and 0.1 g, respectively. Since the telemeter is small and light enough to be loaded on a small animal such as an insect, the system can be used for the neural recording of a freely moving insect. The RF-telemeter can transmit signals by frequency modulation transmission at 80-90 MHz. The transmitted signals can be received up to about 16 meters away from the telemeter with a high signal-to-noise ratio. The neural activity can be detected without attenuation by using an instrumentation amplifier with its input impedance set to 2 Mohms at 1 kHz. The telemeter was loaded on a cockroach and the neural activity during a free-walk was successfully measured through this telemetry system.

Turning manoeuvres in free-flying locusts: two-channel radio-telemetric transmission of muscle activity

A device has been constructed allowing the simultaneous transmission of two separate electrical signals in unrestrained small animals. We employed this device to investigate the motor output in free-flying locusts. The activation pattern of several combinations of different muscles was recorded, including bilateral symmetric muscles and pairs of antagonists. Particular attention was paid to the recruitment of a specific set of flight muscles in both winged segments during rolling manoeuvres. The relationship of the muscle activation with wing movement was analysed in combination with a high-speed video-monitoring. The muscles are activated in advance of the relevant stroke directions, in opposition to previous studies of tethered flying locusts. During turning manoeuvres a statistically significant difference in timing of the bilateral symmetric muscles is not apparent; this contrasts with the distinct difference revealed for the bilateral wing movement. It is discussed that rolling might rely on the fine tuned interaction of several major flight muscles or on the precise activation of a specific wing hinge muscle. Correspondence with investigations of bird flight is discussed.