Editing Biorobotics (section)

== Animal-robot interactions ==
[[File:Animal-Robot interactions.png|thumb|575x575px|Block representation of the animal-robot interactions research field]]
Animal-robot interactions is a field of Biorobotics that focuses on the blending of robotic compounds with animal individuals or populations.<ref name=":4">{{cite journal |last1=Romano |first1=Donato |last2=Donati |first2=Elisa |last3=Benelli |first3=Giovanni |last4=Stefanini |first4=Cesare |title=A review on animal–robot interaction: from bio-hybrid organisms to mixed societies |journal=Biological Cybernetics |date=June 2019 |volume=113 |issue=3 |pages=201–225 |doi=10.1007/s00422-018-0787-5 |pmid=30430234 }}</ref> The domain can be subdivided into two main branches, one that relates mechatronic devices with individual animals, and another one with animal populations. Both branches have a variety of applications, ranging from animal [[Cyborg|cyborgs]] benefiting from animals' superior motor capabilities<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Wang |first1=Yueming |last2=Lu |first2=Minlong |last3=Wu |first3=Zhaohui |last4=Tian |first4=Liwen |last5=Xu |first5=Kedi |last6=Zheng |first6=Xiaoxiang |last7=Pan |first7=Gang |title=Visual Cue-Guided Rat Cyborg for Automatic Navigation [Research Frontier] |journal=IEEE Computational Intelligence Magazine |date=May 2015 |volume=10 |issue=2 |pages=42–52 |doi=10.1109/MCI.2015.2405318 }}</ref> to ethological studies around animal collective behaviour.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Krause |first1=Jens |last2=Winfield |first2=Alan F.T. |last3=Deneubourg |first3=Jean-Louis |title=Interactive robots in experimental biology |journal=Trends in Ecology & Evolution |date=July 2011 |volume=26 |issue=7 |pages=369–375 |doi=10.1016/j.tree.2011.03.015 |pmid=21496942 |bibcode=2011TEcoE..26..369K }}</ref><ref name=":0">{{cite journal |last1=Phamduy |first1=P |last2=Polverino |first2=G |last3=Fuller |first3=R C |last4=Porfiri |first4=M |title=Fish and robot dancing together: bluefin killifish females respond differently to the courtship of a robot with varying color morphs |journal=Bioinspiration & Biomimetics |date=27 August 2014 |volume=9 |issue=3 |pages=036021 |doi=10.1088/1748-3182/9/3/036021 |pmid=25162832 |bibcode=2014BiBi....9c6021P }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Michelsen |first1=Axel |last2=Andersen |first2=Bent Bach |last3=Storm |first3=Jesper |last4=Kirchner |first4=Wolfgang H. |last5=Lindauer |first5=Martin |date=April 1992 |title=How honeybees perceive communication dances, studied by means of a mechanical model |journal=Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology |language=en |volume=30 |issue=3–4 |pages=143–150 |doi=10.1007/BF00166696 |bibcode=1992BEcoS..30..143M }}</ref> While this representation draws a globally accurate view of the domain, some animal-robot interactions cannot be strictly classified into one or the other of these branches, or are sometimes a mixture of both. This is the case namely for ethological robots that interact on a one-to-one basis<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Patricelli |first1=Gail L. |last2=Coleman |first2=Seth W. |last3=Borgia |first3=Gerald |title=Male satin bowerbirds, Ptilonorhynchus violaceus, adjust their display intensity in response to female startling: an experiment with robotic females |journal=Animal Behaviour |date=January 2006 |volume=71 |issue=1 |pages=49–59 |doi=10.1016/j.anbehav.2005.03.029 }}</ref> or when [[Eusociality|eusocial]] animals are considered as a single [[superorganism]] interacting with a single robotic device. In the latter case, the term Bio-Hybrid superorganism is used to describe the blending of a robotic device with a superorganism to enable interaction, control and thus studying of the latter superorganism.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Barmak |first1=Rafael |last2=Stefanec |first2=Martin |last3=Hofstadler |first3=Daniel N. |last4=Piotet |first4=Louis |last5=Schönwetter-Fuchs-Schistek |first5=Stefan |last6=Mondada |first6=Francesco |last7=Schmickl |first7=Thomas |last8=Mills |first8=Rob |title=A robotic honeycomb for interaction with a honeybee colony |journal=Science Robotics |date=22 March 2023 |volume=8 |issue=76 |pages=eadd7385 |doi=10.1126/scirobotics.add7385 |pmid=36947600 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Barmak |first1=Rafael |last2=Hofstadler |first2=Daniel N. |last3=Stefanec |first3=Martin |last4=Piotet |first4=Louis |last5=Cherfan |first5=Raphaël |last6=Schmickl |first6=Thomas |last7=Mondada |first7=Francesco |last8=Mills |first8=Rob |title=Biohybrid Superorganisms—On the Design of a Robotic System for Thermal Interactions With Honeybee Colonies |journal=IEEE Access |date=2024 |volume=12 |pages=50849–50871 |doi=10.1109/ACCESS.2024.3385658 |bibcode=2024IEEEA..1250849B }}</ref><ref>{{Cite thesis |last=Botner Barmak |first=Rafael |title=A Biohybrid Superorganism - Investigating honeybees' collective behaviors via interactive robotics |date=2024 |publisher=Lausanne, EPFL |doi=10.5075/epfl-thesis-10594 }}{{pn|date=April 2025}}</ref> 

=== Bio-Hybrid organisms ===

=== Mixed societies ===
Mixed societies blend together a set of animals (animal society) with a set of robotic devices (artificial society). Care should be take when using the word society, as the noun could be misleading within the zoologist community that is involved in this domain; a more accurate word would be populations,<ref name=":4" /> which is also the one used for the rest of this section.

Typically, the robotic population is composed of robotic replica of the target animal individuals aimed to integrate within the animal population. To do this, stimuli naturally perceived by the animals are emitted by the robotic individuals, and this through different communication channels: visual cues, thermal pulses, vibration signals, etc. The degree to which the robotic individuals successfully blend with the animal population is related to as bio-acceptance, and is often key to enable further behavioural study of the target species.<ref>{{cite book |doi=10.1007/978-3-642-39802-5_42 |chapter=Towards Bio-hybrid Systems Made of Social Animals and Robots |title=Biomimetic and Biohybrid Systems |series=Lecture Notes in Computer Science |date=2013 |last1=Halloy |first1=José |last2=Mondada |first2=Francesco |last3=Kernbach |first3=Serge |last4=Schmickl |first4=Thomas |volume=8064 |pages=384–386 |isbn=978-3-642-39801-8 }}</ref> 

Once interactions between the animal and robot population is achieved by establishing relevant communication channels, mixed societies offer the potential for adaptive robotic behaviours driven by real-time feedback from the animal population. By responding directly to animal behaviour, the robots can dynamically adjust their actions to better integrate into the group. This capability is particularly valuable for understanding collective behaviours in animal populations. Adaptive robots can be used to implement models of specific roles or interactions within a group, enabling the testing of hypotheses about coordination, decision-making, or social organisation. This approach bridges experimental and modelling techniques, in an attempt to offer insights into the underlying mechanisms of collective behaviour.<ref>{{cite book |doi=10.1201/b14908-19 |chapter=Developmental Collective Robotics: Advantages and Challenges of Unbounded Self-Development |title=Handbook of Collective Robotics |date=2013 |pages=529–570 |isbn=978-0-429-06759-4 }}</ref>