Dynamic Behavior of Running Insect Activated by High-Speed Microdroplets Manipulation

We newly propose a high-speed robotic system that can investigate running insects such as ants on a 2D space. The developed system comprises a high-speed actuator (inkjet mechanism) that can make $\pmb{100\ \mu\text{m}}$ sized droplets with a 3 m/s ejection speed using a piezoelectric actuator and a high-speed online vision sensor. The design and implementation of the system is described, and its performance was confirmed through the experiments with actual running ants. This system provides on-line investigation with high functionality that has been difficult to achieve with previous approaches and contributes towards the discovery of previously unknown functions and dynamic behaviors of insects in the bioscience fields.