Journal of Bionic Engineering (2024) 21:1334–1346https://doi.org/10.1007/s42235-024-00501-x

A Graded Speed Control Method for Cyborg Rats Based on Electrical Stimulation of the Cuneiform Nucleus

Hanyi Ling1,2,3 · Le Han1,2,4 · Nenggan Zheng1,2,4,5

1 Qiushi Academy for Advanced Studies (QAAS), Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310007, China

2 The State Key Lab of Brain-Machine Intelligence, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310007, China

3 College of Biomedical Engineering & Instrument Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310007, China

4 College of Computer Science and Technology, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310007, China

5 CCAI by MOE and Zhejiang Provincial Government (ZJU), Hangzhou 310007, China 

Abstract

The precise movement speed regulation is a key factor to improve the control effect and efffciency of the cyborg rats. However, the current stimulation techniques cannot realize the graded control of the speed. In this study, we achieved the multi-level speed regulation of cyborg rats in the large open ffeld and treadmill by speciffcally targeting the Cuneiform Nucleus (CnF) of the Mesencephalic Locomotor Region (MLR). Detailed, we measured the inffuence of each stimulation parameter on the speed control process which included the real-time speed, accelerated speed, response time, and acceleration period. We concluded that the pulse period and the pulse width were the main determinants inffuencing the accelerated speed of cyborg rats. Whereas the amplitude of stimulation was found to affect the response time exhibited by the cyborg rats. Our study provides valuable insights into the regulation of rat locomotion speed and highlights the potential for utilizing this approach in various experimental settings.

Keywords Cyborg rats · Cuneiform nucleus · Graded control · Speed regulation