(Press-News.org) Contact information: Kathleen Hamilton
hamilton@poly.edu
718-260-3792
Polytechnic Institute of New York University
The secret's in the (robotic) stroke
NYU-Poly researchers tease out cues that impact schooling fish behavior
Brooklyn, New York— Recent studies from two research teams at the Polytechnic Institute of New York University (NYU-Poly) demonstrate how underwater robots can be used to understand and influence the complex swimming behaviors of schooling fish. The teams, led by Maurizio Porfiri, associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at NYU-Poly, published two separate papers in the journal PLOS ONE.
These studies are the latest in a significant body of research by Porfiri and collaborators utilizing robots, specifically robotic fish, to impact collective animal behavior. In collaboration with doctoral candidate Paul Phamduy and NYU-Poly research scholar Giovanni Polverino, Porfiri designed an experiment to examine the interplay of visual cues and flow cues—changes in the water current as a result of tail-beat frequency—in triggering a live golden shiner fish to either approach or ignore a robotic fish.
They designed and built two robotic fish analogous to live golden shiners in aspect ratio, size, shape, and locomotion pattern. However, one was painted with the natural colors of the golden shiner, the other with a palette not seen in the species. The researchers affixed each robot to the inside of a water tunnel, introduced a live golden shiner fish, and observed its interactions with the robot. While the robot's position remained static, the researchers experimented with several different tail-beat frequencies.
"When the fish encountered a robot that mimicked both the coloration and mean tail-beat frequency for the species, it was likeliest to spend the most time in the nearest proximity to it," Porfiri said. "The more closely the robot came to approximating a fellow golden shiner, the likelier the fish was to treat it like one, including swimming at the same depth behind the robot, which yields a hydrodynamic advantage," he explained.
While flow cues created by tail-beat frequency proved to be a critical trigger for shoaling behavior, coloration proved slightly dominant. "Even at tail-beat frequencies that were less than optimal for the live fish, the shiners were always more drawn to the naturally colored robot," Porfiri added.
Robot speed and body movement were the main focus of another study, also published in PLOS ONE, in which Porfiri teamed with NYU-Poly postdoctoral fellow Sachit Butail and graduate student Tiziana Bartolini. This time, the subject was the zebrafish, and the robot was a free-swimming unit with the coloration, size, aspect ratio, and fin shape of a fertile female member of the species.
The researchers placed the robot in a shared tank with shoals of live zebrafish, aiming to determine if the fish would perceive the robot as a predator, and whether visual cues from the robot could be used to modulate the fishes' social behavior and activity. The team used a remote control to drive the robot in a circular swimming pattern, while varying its tail-beat frequency. For comparison purposes, they also exposed the fish to the robot in a fixed position, beating its tail.
Experiments showed that while the zebrafish clearly did not perceive the swimming robot as one of their own—they maintained greater distance from the robot than they did to each other—the robot was still an effective stimulus for modulating their social behavior.
When the robot was held still in the tank, the live fish showed high group cohesion, along with a strong polarization—meaning the fish were likely to be close to each other and oriented in the same direction. As the robot's tail-beat frequency increased, it had a profound impact on the group's collective behavior, causing a spike in the cohesion and a small but detectable decrease in polarization—the fish largely milled together and even matched their speeds to that of the robot as it reached a certain tail-beat frequency.
"This shows us that the fish are responding to more than one stimulus—it's not just the flow cues, it's the combination of visual and flow cues that influence the collective response," Porfiri said.
Porfiri is a leading researcher in the field of ethorobotics—the study of robot-animal interaction. Studies like these advance multiple areas of science, including the development of an experimental animal model based on lower-order species such as fish, with robots providing a consistent, infinitely reproducible stimulus. The use of robots to influence collective animal behavior is also viewed as a potential means to protect marine wildlife, including birds and fish, in the wake of environmental hazard.
INFORMATION:
This research was supported by the National Science Foundation and the Mitsui USA Foundation.
The Polytechnic Institute of New York University (formerly the Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute and the Polytechnic University, now widely known as NYU-Poly) is an affiliated institute of New York University, and will become its School of Engineering in January 2014. NYU-Poly, founded in 1854, is the nation's second-oldest private engineering school. It is presently a comprehensive school of education and research in engineering and applied sciences, rooted in a 159-year tradition of invention, innovation and entrepreneurship. It remains on the cutting edge of technology, innovatively extending the benefits of science, engineering, management and liberal studies to critical real-world opportunities and challenges, especially those linked to urban systems, health and wellness, and the global information economy. In addition to its programs on the main campus in New York City at MetroTech Center in downtown Brooklyn, it offers programs around the globe remotely through NYUe-Poly. NYU-Poly is closely connected to engineering in NYU Abu Dhabi and NYU Shanghai and to the NYU Center for Urban Science and Progress (CUSP) also at MetroTech, while operating two incubators in downtown Manhattan and Brooklyn. For more information, visit http://www.poly.edu.
The secret's in the (robotic) stroke
NYU-Poly researchers tease out cues that impact schooling fish behavior
2013-10-31
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Increasing rate of knee replacements linked to obesity among young, researchers say
2013-10-31
Increasing rate of knee replacements linked to obesity among young, researchers say
New data show younger adults have same or greater impairment than older patients
BOSTON – Contrary to popular myth, it is not the aging Baby Boomer or weekend ...
Newly identified proteins make promising targets for blocking graft-vs.-host disease
2013-10-31
Newly identified proteins make promising targets for blocking graft-vs.-host disease
Finding could help improve outcomes from bone marrow transplants
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Researchers from the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center have ...
Biochemists find incomplete protein digestion is a useful thing for some bacteria
2013-10-31
Biochemists find incomplete protein digestion is a useful thing for some bacteria
To the authors' surprise, 1 specialized replication factor was partially digested or trimmed, physically cut into shorter fragments, by an energy-dependent protease ...
Long-term use of prescription-based painkillers increases the risk of depression, SLU researcher finds
2013-10-31
Long-term use of prescription-based painkillers increases the risk of depression, SLU researcher finds
ST. LOUIS – Opioid analgesics, or prescription-based narcotic pain killers, have long been known to reduce pain, but reports of adverse effects and addiction continue ...
Houston we have a problem: Microgravity accelerates biological aging
2013-10-31
Houston we have a problem: Microgravity accelerates biological aging
New research in The FASEB Journal suggests that gravitational unloading significantly impairs the function of endothelial cells, as evidenced by gene expression ...
Primary GOES-R instrument ready to be installed onto spacecraft
2013-10-31
Primary GOES-R instrument ready to be installed onto spacecraft
A key instrument that will fly on the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite – R (GOES-R) spacecraft, NOAA's next-generation of geostationary satellites, is cleared for installation ...
Lefties more likely to have psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia: Yale study
2013-10-31
Lefties more likely to have psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia: Yale study
Being left-handed has been linked to many mental disorders, but Yale researcher Jadon Webb and his colleagues have found that among those with mental illnesses, people with psychotic ...
Direct link established between stimulus-response learning and substance abuse
2013-10-31
Direct link established between stimulus-response learning and substance abuse
Findings from Douglas Institute neuroscientist
Véronique Bohbot, PhD, neuroscientist at the Douglas Mental Health University Institute, found ...
Could a milky way supernova be visible from Earth in next 50 years?
2013-10-31
Could a milky way supernova be visible from Earth in next 50 years?
Advances in cameras, new strategies for detection make it possible
COLUMBUS, Ohio—Astronomers at The Ohio State University have calculated the odds that, sometime during the next 50 years, a supernova ...
Geoengineering the climate could reduce vital rains
2013-10-31
PUBLIC RELEASE DATE: 31-Oct-2013
[
| E-mail
]
var addthis_pub="eurekalert"; var addthis_options = "favorites, delicious, digg, facebook, twitter, google, newsvine, reddit, slashdot, stumbleupon, buzz, more"
Share
Contact: David Hosansky
hosansky@ucar.edu
303-497-8611
National Center for Atmospheric Research/University Corporation for Atmospheric Research
Simone Tilmes
tilmes@ucar.edu
303-497-1445
NCAR
John Fasullo
fasullo@ucar.edu
303-497-1712
NCAR
Geoengineering the climate could reduce vital rains
BOULDER—Although a significant ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
Attitudes, not income, drive energy savings at home
The playbook for perfect polaritons
‘Disease in a dish’ study of progressive MS finds critical role for unusual type of brain cell
Solar-powered method lights the way to a ‘de-fossilized’ chemical industry
Screen time linked to lower academic achievement among Ontario elementary students
One-year outcomes after traumatic brain injury and early extracranial surgery in the TRACK-TBI Study
Enduring outcomes of COVID-19 work absences on the US labor market
Affirmative action repeal and racial and ethnic diversity in us medical school admissions
Cancer progression illuminated by new multi-omics tool
Screen time and standardized academic achievement tests in elementary school
GLP-1RA order fills and out-of-pocket costs by race, ethnicity, and indication
Study finds HEPA purifiers alone may not be enough to reduce viral exposure in schools
UVA Health developing way to ID people at risk of dangerous lung scarring even before symptoms appear
How can we know when curing cancer causes myocarditis?
Male infertility in Indian men linked to lifestyle choices and hormonal imbalances
An acoustofluidic device for sample preparation and detection of small extracellular vesicles
The advent of nanotechnology has ushered in a transformative era for oncology, offering unprecedented capabilities for targeted drug delivery and controlled release. This paradigm shift enhances thera
A prototype LED as thin as wallpaper — that glows like the sun
Transnational electoral participation of undocumented Mexican immigrants in the US
A new method to build more energy-efficient memory devices for a sustainable data future
Freely levitating rotor spins out ultraprecise sensors for classical and quantum physics
‘Chinese lantern’ structure shifts into more than a dozen shapes for various applications
Towards light-controlled electronic components
Tiny architects, titanic climate impact: scientists call for October 10 to become International Coccolithophore Day
Stress sensitivity makes suicidal thoughts more extreme and persistent among the university population
Lessons from Ascension’s shark troubles could help boost conservation
Fire provides long-lasting benefits to bird populations in Sierra Nevada National Parks
Menstrual cycle affects women’s reaction time but not as much as being active
Housing associations more effective than government in supporting unemployed in deprived areas
Biochar helps composting go greener by cutting greenhouse gas emissions
[Press-News.org] The secret's in the (robotic) strokeNYU-Poly researchers tease out cues that impact schooling fish behavior