Construction of 3-DOF servo-sphere for behavior measurement of silkworm moths

Abstract

In this study, we developed a behavior measurement system named “3D servo-sphere”. The system is composed of one sphere and three omni-wheels that support the sphere. A male silkworm moth, Bombyx mori, is put on the top of the sphere. The position and the body angle of a moth are observed by a high-speed camera that is installed above a moth. Since the system can rotate the sphere in 3-DOF independently, we can keep the position and the body angle at the origin without any body-fixture. By the proposed system, we can observe natural behavior of a moth during CPT ( Chemical Plume Tracing ) . The system also enables that we can give stimulus precisely without fixing the animal, because the feedback system keeps the position of the head of a moth. By using this, we can observe the relationship between input stimulus and output action in long run. By connecting to a virtual space in a computer, we can apply modeled environment to a real moth. The system will be effective to identify transfer functions from stimulus to behavior.