Abstract
We have designed a robotic honeybee to mimic the bee dance communication system. To achieve this goal, a tracking system has been developed to extract real bee dance trajectories recorded with high-speed video cameras. The results have been analysed to find the essential properties required for the prototype robot. Putative signals in the dance communication have been identified from the literature. Several prototypes were built with successive addition of more features or improvement of existing components. Prototypes were tested in a populated beehive results were documented using high-speed camera recordings. A substantial innovation is a visual feedback system that helps the robot to minimise collisions with other bees.
Highlights
In this paper we describe the design and development of a robotic honeybee capable of mimicking the honeybee dance
We identified the ability of the robot to react to nearby conditions as an essential component and developed a visual feedback system that prevents the model from colliding with surrounding bees
In the last part of this contribution we focus on the design principles and implementation details of the robotic bee
Summary
In this paper we describe the design and development of a robotic honeybee capable of mimicking the honeybee dance. High-speed videos reveal many contacts of the waggling dancer with the head and antennae of the surrounding follower bees. When performing the waggle run, the dancer produces bursts of 280-Hz wing oscillations. The dancer’s body movement, especially in the waggle phase, seems to be one of the most important signals to the follower bees (De Marco 2007; Rohrseitz and Tautz 1999). We developed an automatic tracking system (Landgraf and Rojas 2007) to gain data from previously recorded high-speed videos of bee dances. The followers are hit frontally against the antennas and the head by the dancer’s abdomen, or the dancer runs into another bee frontally. The dancer is observed numerous times to draw aside in return run situations but does not try to change the waggle direction for avoidance of collisions
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