Our research develops and uses robotic devices that interact with animal groups to observe and modulate their behaviour, in order to better understand them, e.g. their collective decision making.
This work has goals in behavioural sciences, collective dynamics and systems modelling; and employs tools and techniques from mobile robotics, microengineering, machine learning, computer vision, and complex systems.
Honeybees and robots
We are developing robotic devices that live inside beehives and continually interact with entire honeybee colonies. The robots modulate the internal hive environment with vibrations and heat; these are used to explore how behaviours can be steered at individual and colony levels (Ilgun et al, 2021). We have recently demonstrated the capacity of our robotic system to interact with an intact winter cluster, comprising thousands of animals (Barmak et al, 2023; see also our press release). This research is part of the FET-EU project HIVEOPOLIS. Overall a main aim is to better understand how our long-term live-in robotics can support honeybees in an increasingly hostile environment for these crucial pollinators.
Our previous work studied collective behaviours in honeybee-robot interactions in laboratory conditions (Schmickl et al 2021, Halloy et al 2013, Zahadat et al 2014), investigating how reactive thermal environments influence decision-making.
Fish and robots
We are developing systems comprising of multiple mobile robots interacting with small groups of fish such as zebrafish (Danio rerio) and rummy-nose tetra (Hemigramus rhodostomus). The robotic agents (Bonnet et al 2017, Bonnet et al 2016, Papaspyros et al 2019) were controlled via a closed-loop system using computer vision analysis (Bonnet et al 2017), and have been shown to be capable of integrating into groups of fish (Bonnet et al 2018) and modulating collective decisions (Bonnet et al 2018, Chemtob et al 2020). More generally, we work on modelling the dynamics of fish (Escodebo et al 2020) so to design robotic interactions with increased bio-acceptance (Papaspyros et al 2019).
Interspecies interactions mediated by bio-hybrid robots
Our research within the FET-EU project ASSISIbf included the
breakthrough of developing inter-species interactions between
honeybees and zebrafish, mediated via robots (Bonnet et al, 2019).
Our press release includes a further summary of this research:
Animals and robots – other research
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- The LEURRE project constructed the first robots that were shown to infiltrate an animal group – being accepted like conspecifics – and, through acting as “agent provocateur”, were able to modulate group decisions from within. (Halloy et al 2007). Here, our robots interacted with cockroaches.
- We developed mobile robots that interacted with domestic chickens, (Gribovskiy et al 2018, 2008, 2012). This system made use of visual and auditory channels for both observation (animals ⇒ robots) and modulation (robots ⇒ animals).
- Across all animal-robot interaction studies, the robotic devices must be capable of transmitting cues or signals that are relevant to the animal, of sensing the animal’s response to the presented information, and finally of reacting to it. The design of such animal-interacting robots is highly non-trivial, depending on understanding the animals, modelling, robot design, and embodiment. We developed a general methodology to address these interconnected challenges (Mondada et al 2013).
Related publications
2024
2023
Challenges and approaches in bridging the biomimicry gap in biohybrid systems of fish and robots
V. Papaspyros / F. Mondada (Dir.)
Lausanne, EPFL, 2023. 2022
A study model for reconstructing urban ecological niches
A. Ilgün; R. Mills; F. Mondada; T. Schmickl
2022. Fifth International Conference on Structures and Architecture (ICSA2022), Aalborg, Denmark, July 6–8, 2022. p. 75-82. 2021
Social Integrating Robots Suggest Mitigation Strategies for Ecosystem Decay
T. Schmickl; M. Szopek; F. Mondada; R. Mills; M. Stefanec et al.
Frontiers In Bioengineering And Biotechnology. 2021-05-24. Vol. 9, p. 612605. DOI : 10.3389/fbioe.2021.612605. 2020
A data-driven method for reconstructing and modelling social interactions in moving animal groups
R. Escobedo; V. Lecheval; V. Papaspyros; F. Bonnet; F. Mondada et al.
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 2020-07-27. Vol. 375, num. 1807, p. 20190380. DOI : 10.1098/rstb.2019.0380. 2019
Bidirectional interactions facilitate the integration of a robot into a shoal of zebrafish Danio rerio
V. Papaspyros; F. Bonnet; B. E. Collignon; F. Mondada
PLoS One. 2019-08-20. Vol. 14, num. 8, p. e0220559. DOI : 10.1371/journal.pone.0220559. Shoaling with Fish: Using Miniature Robotic Agents to Close the Interaction Loop with Groups of Zebrafish Danio rerio
F. Bonnet; F. Mondada
Springer, 2019. 2018
Follow the dummy: measuring the influence of a biomimetic robotic fish-lure on the collective decisions of a zebrafish shoal inside a circular corridor
F. Bonnet; J. Halloy; F. Mondada
2018-04-26. Robosoft 2018: The first IEEE-RAS International Conference on Soft Robotics, Livorno, Italy, April 24-28, 2018. p. 504-509. DOI : 10.1109/ROBOSOFT.2018.8405376. How to Blend a Robot Within a Group of Zebrafish: Achieving Social Acceptance Through Real-Time Calibration of a Multi-level Behavioural Model
L. Cazenille; Y. Chemtob; F. Bonnet; A. Gribovskiy; F. Mondada et al.
2018-01-01. 7th International Conference on Biomimetic and Biohybrid Systems, Living Machines (LM), Paris, FRANCE, Jul 17-20, 2018. p. 73-84. DOI : 10.1007/978-3-319-95972-6_9. Closed-loop interactions between a shoal of zebrafish and a group of robotic fish in a circular corridor
F. Bonnet; A. Gribovskiy; J. Halloy; F. Mondada
Swarm Intelligence. 2018. Vol. 12, num. 3, p. 227-244. DOI : 10.1007/s11721-017-0153-6. 2017
Multi-robot control and tracking framework for bio-hybrid systems with closed-loop interaction
F. Bonnet; L. Cazenille; A. Gribovskiy; J. Halloy; F. Mondada
2017. Robotics and Automation (ICRA), 2017 IEEE International Conference on, Singapore, Singapore, 29 May-3 June 2017. DOI : 10.1109/ICRA.2017.7989515. Design of a modular robotic system that mimics small fish locomotion and body movements for ethological studies
F. Bonnet; L. Cazenille; A. Séguret; A. Gribovskiy; B. E. Collignon et al.
International Journal of Advanced Robotic Systems. 2017. Vol. 14, num. 3, p. 1729881417706628. DOI : 10.1177/1729881417706628. Shoaling with fish: using miniature robotic agents to close the interaction loop with groups of zebrafish Danio rerio
F. Bonnet / F. Mondada (Dir.)
Lausanne, EPFL, 2017. 2016
Design Methods for Miniature Underwater Soft Robots
F. Bonnet; N. Crot; D. Burnier; F. Mondada
2016. 6th IEEE RAS & EMBS International Conference on Biomedical Robotics and Biomechatronics (BioRob 2016), Singapore, June 26-29, 2016. p. 1365-1370. DOI : 10.1109/BIOROB.2016.7523823. 2015
Infiltrating the Zebrafish Swarm: Design, Implementation and Experimental Tests of a Miniature Robotic Fish Lure for Fish-Robot Interaction Studies
F. Bonnet; Y. Kato; J. Halloy; F. Mondada
2015. SWARM 2015: The First International Symposium on Swarm Behavior and Bio-Inspired Robotics, Kyoto, Japan, October 28-30, 2015. p. 239-246. DOI : 10.1007/s10015-016-0291-8. 2014
A Miniature Mobile Robot Developed to be Socially Integrated with Species of Small Fish
F. Bonnet; S. Binder; M. Elias de Oliveira; J. Halloy; F. Mondada
2014. IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Biomimetics, Bali, Indonesia, December 5-10. p. 747-752. DOI : 10.1109/ROBIO.2014.7090421. Social Adaptation of Robots for Modulating Self-Organization in Animal Societies
P. Zahadat; M. Bodi; Z. Salem; F. Bonnet; M. Elias de Oliveira et al.
2014. 2nd FoCAS Workshop on Fundamentals of Collective Systems, London, UK, September 8th, 2014. p. 55-60. DOI : 10.1109/SASOW.2014.13. 2013
ASSISI: Mixing Animals with Robots in a Hybrid Society
T. Schmickl; S. Bogdan; L. Correia; S. Kernbach; F. Mondada et al.
2013. Living Machines, International Conference on Biomimetic and Biohybrid Systems, London, July 29 – August 2013, 2013. p. 441-443. DOI : 10.1007/978-3-642-39802-5_60. Towards bio-hybrid systems made of social animals and robots
J. Halloy; F. Mondada; S. Kernbach; T. Schmickl
2013. Living Machines, International Conference on Biomimetic and Biohybrid Systems, London, July 29 – August 2013, 2013. p. 384-386. DOI : 10.1007/978-3-642-39802-5_42. 2012
Building a safe robot for behavioral biology experiments
A. Gribovskiy; J. I. Halloy; J-L. Deneubourg; F. Mondada
2012. IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Biomimetics (ROBIO 2012), Guangzhou, China, December 11-14, 2012. p. 582-587. DOI : 10.1109/ROBIO.2012.6491029. Development of a mobile robot to study the collective behavior of zebrafish
F. Bonnet; P. Rétornaz; J. I. Halloy; A. Gribovskiy; F. Mondada
2012. IEEE International Conference on Biomedical Robotics and Biomechatronics, Roma, Italy, June 24-28, 2012. DOI : 10.1109/BioRob.2012.6290826. 2011
2010
2009
Real-Time Audio-Visual Calls Detection System for a Chicken Robot
A. Gribovskiy; F. Mondada
2009. 14th International Conference on Advanced Robotics (ICAR 2009), Munich, Germany, July 22-26, 2009. p. 1-6. Design of Collision Avoidance System for a Chicken Robot Based on Fuzzy Relation Equations
A. Gribovskiy; F. Mondada
2009. 2009 IEEE International Conference on Fuzzy Systems, Jeju, Korea, August 20-24, 2009. p. 1851-1856. DOI : 10.1109/FUZZY.2009.5277298. 2008
Audio-visual detection of multiple chirping robots
A. Gribovskiy; F. Mondada
2008. Intelligent Autonomous Systems 10, Baden Baden, Germany, July 23-26, 2008. p. 324-331. DOI : 10.3233/978-1-58603-887-8-324. 2007
