Host: The Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers
Name : [in Japanese]
Date : June 01, 2022 - June 04, 2022
We have been investigating how to use behavior-controlled Daphnia as a living micromachine. The control of Daphnia was done by applying their phototaxes. We successfully controlled the behavior of Daphnia using phototaxis. However, Daphnia has millimeter sized body and it is too big for micromachines. Therefore, we have been investigating for the other applications such as for the computer game. In this study, first, we developed a simpler behavior control system of Daphnia using a laptop computer and a second LCD display. We also developed a cooling system to prevent the control pool from the heat of the LCD display to avoid the phototaxis tendency reversal phenomenon. The behavior control algorithm was also improved by using body angle information of the tool installed Daphnia. Two types of the operation tools were newly designed and investigated to improve the turning ability of the tool installed Daphnia, one is the hexagonal plate type, and the other is the small sphere type made of polystyrene foam. Both showed better turning abilities. The small sphere type, however, has the better property.
