A turtle under telepathic control

Koreans have learned to control a turtle with the power of thought

Nadezhda Bessonova, N+1

Korean scientists have demonstrated remote control of the turtle's movement through human thought. The method is based on non–invasive control of the animal's instinctive behavior. The description of the work is published in the Journal of Bionic Engineering (Cheol-Hu Kim et al., Remote Navigation of Turtle by Controlling Instinct Behavior via Human Brain-computer Interface).

Unlike experiments on controlling animal movement by implanting electrodes into the brain or muscles, Korean researchers decided to apply a control scheme based on controlling the instinctive behavior of turtles when overcoming obstacles. Turtles recognize a source of white light as an open space and instinctively move towards it (which, for example, causes them to suffer greatly from light pollution of habitats). At the same time, animals tend to avoid objects that block the view: in previous work, researchers showed that the turtle perceives black as an obstacle and tries to get around it. Turtles turned out to be convenient objects for the experiment, among other things, because the necessary equipment can be firmly fixed on the hard shell.

The new method uses a brain-computer interface (BCI) in combination with a device that transmits commands from the computer to the brain. 

The turtle control system looks like this: an Emotiv Epoc headset and a display for displaying the turtle's environment are attached to the operator's head. A "cyborg system" is installed on the reptile's shell - it consists of a camera, a Wi–Fi transmitter, a computer control module and a battery, as well as a black semi-cylinder with a cut that forms a stimulating device. The cylinder can rotate up to 36 degrees in each direction under the control of the operator's "thoughts".

Turtle equipment diagram. The device consists of a main computer (Raspberry Pi), an engine, a battery, a Wi-Fi transceiver, a compact color camera and a semi-cylinder with a slit. The engine controls the positioning of the slot in the half-cylinder (in the image it is located directly in front of the turtle). Here and below are drawings from an article in ScienceDirect

During the control process, the operator receives a real-time video image from a camera mounted on the turtle shell and determines in which direction the turtle should move. Mental commands are recognized by the headset of the brain-computer interface using electroencephalographic signals: the system distinguishes between commands to the left, to the right and inactivity. Commands to the left and right activate the turtle's stimulating device via Wi-Fi, turning the cylinder so that the cylinder section moves in the right direction, causing the turtle to instinctively turn in the right direction.

Brain-control interface equipment. a) A control algorithm b) A control mechanism consisting of an Emotiv Epoc headset and a display that displays the location of the turtle.

For the tests, the scientists used four red-eared freshwater turtles (Trachemys scripta elegans), and five volunteer students acted as operators. The system was tested first in laboratory conditions, and then outdoors – while the operator was five kilometers away from the animal. The tests were also carried out on rough terrain with natural obstacles, grass, gravel and puddles. According to the authors of the article, in all tests the turtles successfully coped with the tasks.

The trajectories of remotely controlled turtles in laboratory conditions, in the field at a distance of 5 km from the operator and over rough terrain with natural obstacles: the turtle must visit points A, B and C and reach the finish line (GOAL point).

The creation of remote control systems for living organisms is a popular topic of modern technologies. Earlier we wrote about an experiment with controlling cyborg insects using optogenetics, the use of neuromuscular electrodes to force a bronze to change its gait, and about a helmet that allows you to control the direction of human movement using a remote control from a radio-controlled toy car. And if we talk about the use of instinctive behavior in remote control, it is impossible not to recall a funny experiment with a bulldog whose movement was controlled with a sausage.

Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru  22.03.2017