« Previous AbstractReconnaissance and latent learning in ants    Next AbstractProduction of volatile phenols by Lactobacillus plantarum in wine conditions »

J Exp Biol

Title:		Robotic communication with ants
Author(s):		Franks NR; Podesta JA; Jarvis EC; Worley A; Sendova-Franks AB;
Address:		"School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, 24 Tyndall Avenue, Bristol BS8 1TQ, UK. Department of Biology, University of York, Wentworth Way, York YO10 5DD, UK"
Journal Title:		J Exp Biol
Year:		2022
Volume:		20220809
Issue:		15
Page Number:		-
DOI:		10.1242/jeb.244106
ISSN/ISBN:		1477-9145 (Electronic) 0022-0949 (Print) 0022-0949 (Linking)
Abstract:		"We used a robotic gantry to test the hypothesis that tandem running in the ant Temnothorax albipennis can be successful in the absence of trail laying by the leader. Pheromone glands were placed on a pin attached to a gantry. This set-up substituted for the leader of a tandem run. Neither the pin nor the glands touched the substrate and thus the ant following the robot was tracking a plume of airborne pheromones. The robot led individual workers from their current nest to a potential new one. The robotic gantry was programmed to allow for human intervention along its path to permit the following ant to stop and survey its surroundings and then catch up with its mechanical leader. The gantry then automatically tracked the precise route taken by each ant from the new nest back to the old one. Ants led by the robot were significantly more successful at finding their way home than those we carried to the new nest that had no opportunity to learn landmarks. The robot was programmed to take either a straight or a sinusoidal path to the new nest. However, we found no significant difference in the abilities of ants that had been led on such direct or sinuous paths to find their way home. Here, the robot laid no trail but our findings suggest that, under such circumstances, the following ant may lay a trail to substitute for the missing one"
Keywords:		Animals *Ants Communication Humans Pheromones *Robotic Surgical Procedures *Robotics Animal-robot interaction Learning Orientation Social behaviour Tandem running;
Notes:		"MedlineFranks, Nigel R Podesta, Jacob A Jarvis, Edward C Worley, Alan Sendova-Franks, Ana B eng University of Bristol/ Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't England 2022/08/10 J Exp Biol. 2022 Aug 1; 225(15):jeb244106. doi: 10.1242/jeb.244106. Epub 2022 Aug 9"