Final Project: Documentation

By Gabrielle Branche

Synopsis:

My final project was to create a fully functioning moth that holistically worked. My report explains the process and has the code for my final. See report here. Photos and Videos of the moth at different stages of its development can be found here.

Reflection:

This final project for me served as a way to tie together all the aspects of Bio-inspired Robotics that was learnt in this class. Firstly I wanted to perfect the behavior of my moth as we addressed that intelligence is a large factor in making a machine a robot. Although my robot did not have artificial intelligence, I hoped that my robot could respond to its environment with the use of hard code.

Secondly I looked at locomotion. While my robot still had wheels I aimed to explore its true movement bu looking at the flapping of its wings. I also tried to tie in what I learned in my other class by lazer cutting and manually building the wings. This way my robot could be more authentic and go beyond behavior

Finally had time allowed I would have used to webcam to have object recognition but this is now an extension and improvement should I decide to develop this bot further.

This has been a great learning experience for me, starting with questioning what makes a robot a robot to the details of it such as using functions to polish and increase the robustness of my code. Most importantly I learned that to truly get into bio-inspired robotics, observation research and prototyping and the key steps to building something that has the potential to be great.

May 22, 2019

Lab Report: Swarm Intelligence

By Gabrielle Branche

Synopsis:

This lab was intended to explore the concepts of collective swarm behavior. My group and I decided to simulate lysosomes where our robots would be able to detect a foreign object, individually move to it until there is enough strength to push it out the boundary.

Results:

We coded the project as a group by splitting up the tasks and coding separately. After wee came together and compiled the codes we debugged the larger code as a group.

We were able to get the webcam to read our code and input and anazlyse values for the QR code such that they could be sent to the microbit in a form that could be used to control the speed and direction of the bots when a foreign object was detected.

Challenges:

While we were able to put the code together, we were not able to successfully achieve serial communication between the webcam and the microbit due to time constraints and final projects.

Reflection:

While this lab was ultimately not completed, it was perhaps one of the most beneficial labs I have done this semester as it really brought home to concept of functions. By using functions in our code we were able to follow the process more smoothly, make more robust code and separate the tasks easily in a way that we could put it all back together again. In a way we as a team worked as a swarm because we had a challenge, divided the work and worked individually but when put together we were able to overcome a larger problem. In this way we were able to work collectively and it helped me put into perspective the benefits of swarm behaviour.

May 13, 2019

First Draft Final Paper

Below is the Link to the first Draft of my final Paper

Using Robotbit to Simulate the Behaviour and Locomotion of a Moth (1)

May 5, 2019

Final Project Proposal

By: Gabrielle Branche

Introduction:

For my midterm project I looked at the behavioral characteristics of a moth. The final result was a robot that could move around, deposit ‘eggs’ (represented through neon lights) and fertilize and specific mating sites. In the second half of the semester we have spent a great deal of time working on locomotion and looking more closely on the mechanics of movement. This got me thinking into the design of my moth. As such I want to use my final project to perfect my moth both in a behavioral point of view and also implement locomotive characteristics.

The moth was supposed to stay in the confines of it’s ‘hive’ (see midterm documentation) but did not work with the other code. This would be the first aspect of my moth that I would like to work such that in alignment with the giant [insert name of moth here… the moth would holistically behave accurately.

After that I would like to design wings that can flap similar to that of a moth that can be attacked to the kitten bot. Of course, determining the aerodynamics to actually make the robot fly would be beyond the scope of this course. However, I believe that it is within my capacity to make wings that flap and pause depending on when the bot is moving or not.

Observation:

My first step was to find videos that could show me exactly how the moth wings work. The best two videos which show their movement in slow motion are as shown below:

From observing these videos, I realized that moths have a very even up and down movement almost as if both wings are controlled by a single axis. This would be important to take into consideration when creating my own wings

Research:

After researching the aerodynamics of moths, I learnt that the wings need to have some level of flexibility to allow for a fluid movement of flapping (Smith, 1996 ). Additionally, in a study of Hawkmoth flight, it was indicated that the angle of rotation of the wings were not constant and changes with speed and flight distance (Willmont and Ellington 1997). Finally, my suspicions about the consistency of both sides of wings were also confirmed in this study which should that both sides were coupled very evenly (Willmont and Ellington, 1997).

Modelling:

To model these wings, I will use the skills we learnt about prototyping to create different versions. My first version will most likely use cardboard to fully understand the flapping mechanism. I hope to move from this point to a 3D printer version that will allow for a more flexible material which would satisfy the aerodynamic needs.

I found a video that I can use to model the wings that use simple servo mechanics on a single axis to simulate flapping.

Timeline and challenges:

I have currently done the research needed to implement this project. The next step would be to start he design. My hope is to have my first prototype by Tuesday’s class which I can then perfect for Thursday’s class giving me the weekend to make the final result and focus on the paper.

The biggest challenge for this project would be the coding as I am still not the strongest coder. However, I believe that with the use of the video showing how the wings were made and with good timing for improvement I can get this project fully put together

Benefit and Importance:

This project will improve my understanding of code and mechanics. Moreover, I believe that the beauty of robots are the fact that like biological systems they exist with a level of robustness that leaves room for adaptability. My hope is that by choosing to continue with the moth I can finish the semester with a complete robot that can stand on its own and that I am proud of.

References:

Gopalakrishnan, Pradeep, and Danesh K. Tafti. “Effect Of Wing Flexibility On Lift And Thrust Production In Flapping Flight”. AIAA Journal, vol 48, no. 5, 2010, pp. 865-877. American Institute Of Aeronautics And Astronautics (AIAA), doi:10.2514/1.39957.

Smith, Michael J. C. “Simulating Moth Wing Aerodynamics – Towards The Development Of Flapping-Wing Technology”. AIAA Journal, vol 34, no. 7, 1996, pp. 1348-1355. American Institute Of Aeronautics And Astronautics (AIAA), doi:10.2514/3.13239. Accessed 5 May 2019.

WILLMOTT, ALEXANDER P., and CHARLES P. ELLINGTON. “THE MECHANICS OF FLIGHT IN THE HAWKMOTH MANDUCA SEXTA”. The Journal Of Experimental Biology, vol 200, 1997, pp. 2705–2722., Accessed 5 May 2019.

May 4, 2019

Lab Report 7: Biological Observation

By: Gabrielle Branche

Introduction:

This lab aimed at understanding the circadian cycle of fruit flies. A circadian rhythm is a roughly 24 hour cycle in the physiological processes of living beings, including plants, animals, fungi and cyanobacteria. (Science Daily.com).

By exploring this process through observation, we could then acquire the skills needed to use observation to determine what biological processes can be adapted by robots.

The Process:

Upon entering the lab we were required to wear proper atire including lab coats and closed toes shows to ensure sanitary conditions. Additionally food was not allowed as it could have become contaminated by an escaped flies. Once prepared, we sedated the flies with CO2 and chose 8 males of a control species Drosophila fruit fly and 8 males of a mutated form of this same species. By using males for the experiment the chance of reproduction occurring during the testing period is avoided. Once collected the 16 flies were placed each in a vial that contained a food source and a ventilated cover. These vials were put in a monitor that measured their activity over the course of a week.

Results:

The results returned from the lab had the following format:

13	14-Apr-19	16:00:00	1	0	17	0	0
14	14-Apr-19	17:00:00	1	0	2	3	0
15	14-Apr-19	18:00:00	1	0	2	21	0
16	14-Apr-19	19:00:00	1	0	78	2	0
17	14-Apr-19	20:00:00	1	0	139	23	0
18	14-Apr-19	21:00:00	1	0	120	23	0
19	14-Apr-19	22:00:00	1	0	2	8	0
20	14-Apr-19	23:00:00	1	0	2	0	0
21	15-Apr-19	0:00:00	1	0	4	0	0
22	15-Apr-19	1:00:00	1	0	0	41	0
23	15-Apr-19	2:00:00	1	0	14	25	9
24	15-Apr-19	3:00:00	1	0	0	0	35
25	15-Apr-19	4:00:00	1	0	0	0	29
26	15-Apr-19	5:00:00	1	0	0	0	1
27	15-Apr-19	6:00:00	1	0	0	2	89
28	15-Apr-19	7:00:00	1	0	0	37	64
29	15-Apr-19	8:00:00	1	0	0	32	0
30	15-Apr-19	9:00:00	1	0	0	0	14
31	15-Apr-19	10:00:00	1	0	6	0	0
32	15-Apr-19	11:00:00	1	0	0	8	119
33	15-Apr-19	12:00:00	1	0	0	1	0
34	15-Apr-19	13:00:00	1	0	0	67	38
35	15-Apr-19	14:00:00	1	142	0	6	42
36	15-Apr-19	15:00:00	1	52	0	0	95
37	15-Apr-19	16:00:00	1	67	0	31	76
38	15-Apr-19	17:00:00	1	98	0	8	37
39	15-Apr-19	18:00:00	1	127	0	81	36
40	15-Apr-19	19:00:00	1	20	6	25	0
41	15-Apr-19	20:00:00	1	108	6	1	0
42	15-Apr-19	21:00:00	1	127	0	0	151
43	15-Apr-19	22:00:00	1	129	16	20	0
44	15-Apr-19	23:00:00	1	11	9	27	0
45	16-Apr-19	0:00:00	1	27	13	0	7

See link for complete data set

The data was interpreted using the following key:

Column 1. Index at reading (from 1)
Column 2. Date of reading
Column 3. Time of reading. Please start from line 13. 16:00:00. From this time on all monitors are read once every hour.
Column 4. Monitor status. 1= valid data received.
Column 5 to 10 are not used in this experiment.
Column 11. Channel 1
Column 12. Channel 2
…
Column 42. Channel 32.

Reflection:

At first the data was a bit hard to understand but after applying certain filters I cam to the conclusion that there was some regularity in the action of the flies. By removing the times of days in which the majority of channels were inactive (reading was 0) the times were reduced to only 5-9 hours each day of activity. This implies that the fruit flies may have some sort of explicit circadian rhythm.

Nevertheless this data was still flawed in multiple ways. Many of the channels read 0 for the entire set which could mean that hat fly had died during set up. This greatly reduced to quantity of the data set. Moreover, in the set I could not distinguish which flies were mutated and which were the control. This could be a problem on my part for not fully understanding the data. However, this limitation prevents me from confirming with certainty our original hypothesis that fruit flies have a set distinct circadian pattern.

This lab was still very beneficial as it helped me understand the importance of biological observation. Now after conducting this lab I am able to apply the information discovered to further projects. The more we observe the natural patterns of organisms, the easier it will become to apply these patterns to robots which would result in more detailed accurate and robust machines.