Abstract
Recently, according with advances in robotics, many studies on symbiosis between human and robot have been performed. However, this research paradigm is difficult to solve only from engineering view point. Therefore, we apply animal psychological approach to this paradigm. The purpose of our study is to clarify basic framework of symbiosis between animals and robots through interaction experiments between a rat and a robot. In the previous experiments, we succeed in conditioning the rat to approach the robot using “operant conditioning.” We then developed a stimulus presentation device that consists of AC motors and gantry frame to investigate effects of robot's body on rats' behavior. This devise provides a spotlight stimulus on the open field and make it move as fast as the robot. We then conditioned the rat to approach the spotlight stimulus. In this paper, comparison between the experiment with the robot and that with the spotlight stimulus is described.
