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A rat-like robot for interacting with real rats

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 June 2013

Qing Shi ,
Hiroyuki Ishii ,
Shinichi Kinoshita ,
Shinichiro Konno ,
Atsuo Takanishi ,
Satoshi Okabayashi ,
Naritoshi Iida  and
Hiroshi Kimura
Qing Shi*
Affiliation:
Intelligent Robotics Institute, School of Mechatronical Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing 100081, China Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan
Hiroyuki Ishii
Affiliation:
Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan
Shinichi Kinoshita
Affiliation:
Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan
Shinichiro Konno
Affiliation:
Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan
Atsuo Takanishi
Affiliation:
Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan
Satoshi Okabayashi
Affiliation:
Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan
Naritoshi Iida
Affiliation:
Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan
Hiroshi Kimura
Affiliation:
Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan
*
*Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected]
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Summary

We developed a novel small rat-like robot called Waseda Rat No. 4 (WR-4) to interact with real rats. WR-4 can perform both rearing (rising up on its hind limbs) and rotating (body bending during movement) actions faster than live mature rats. After robot–rat interaction involving rearing and body grooming (body cuddling and head curling) actions of WR-4, real rats showed more activity and greater interest in the robot. Similar results evident from rat–rat interaction suggest that a rat-like robot is able to interact with rats in the same way as real rats. Furthermore, lower variances between the rat subjects in robot–rat interaction reveals that a rat-like robot can more effectively impact rat's behavior in a controllable, predictable way.

Keywords

Rat-likeWR-4Robot–rat interactionBiomimetic robotsDesignMobile robots
Type
Articles
Information
Robotica , Volume 31 , Issue 8 , December 2013 , pp. 1337 - 1350
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2013 

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