Robots That Dress Like Animals for Science

Mating on the breeding ground begins at dawn, so University of California–Davis assistant professor Gail Patricelli has to have her female sage-grouse robot out of the concealing blind and ready to be wooed by suitors before the sun is up. Scientists like Patricelli are using animal doppelgängers to decode creature behavior and communication based on how real beasts respond to a robot’s mannerisms. Patricelli, who is studying sexual selection, outfitted her bird bot with a video camera and microphone to capture males’ auditory and visual cues. “I can use the robot to mimic a particular female signal or behavior and then see whether males that are more responsive are also more successful in courtship,” Patricelli says. Sure, the robot has wheels instead of legs, but that doesn’t bother the males—they routinely mate with cow pies.

Other Automated-Animal Research

+ Bees In the early 1990s, Axel Michelson at the University of Southern Denmark built a robotic honeybee to test the hypothesis that real bees communicate directions to flowers using a dance. He was able to confirm the idea, despite using a robot that didn’t look like a bee—it was larger and had one wing. The experiment took place within the darkened environment of a hive, so the oddball appearance didn’t alienate other bees.

+ Squirrels Sarah Partan, an assistant professor at Hampshire College, built a robotic Eastern gray squirrel that uses visual and audio signals to better understand communication between real squirrels. At UC Davis, graduate student Aaron Rundus used a robotic California ground squirrel to study a tail-flagging display that squirrels use to intimidate rattle and gopher snakes.

+ Lizards Indiana University professor Emília Martins is using a robot to study how lizards react to displays of courtship and aggression. Both in the lab and in the wild, real lizards responded to the faux lizard’s push-up displays and head bobs.