The walking control of a crab biorobot in amphibious environment

Abstract

This article describes development of a crab biorobot that is capable of traversing diverse environments including both land and water. We have transformed a living rainbow crab into a walking biorobot by attaching wireless controller. An anatomical and physiological investigation revealed the rainbow crabs have sensory system on the carapace. Based on this finding, we implanted electrodes into the carapace. The walking direction of the robot is controlled through electrical stimulation provided by the controller. Depending on this site, the crab biorobot is induced to walk forward, leftward, and rightward in both terrestrial and underwater conditions. There is no significant difference in the mean walking direction between the two conditions. Smooth transition from land to water of the crab biorobot further demonstrates the adaptability to amphibious environment. This biorobot is compact, measuring 5 cm in carapace and weighing 50 g including the wireless controller. The crab biorobot in this scale has a potential for application narrow and unstructured in waterfront environments.