Bioinspired Navigation Based
on Distributed Sensing in the Leech
Sebastian T. Nichols
1 , Catherine E. Kehl
1 , Brian K. Taylor
1(B) ,
and Cynthia Harley
2
1 The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
brian.taylor@unc.edu
2 Metropolitan State University, St. Paul, MN 55106, USA
cindy.harley@metrostate.edu
Abstract. Animals use sensors that are distributed along their body to
process information from the environment, leading to behavioral actions
that will prolong their survival. Although extensive research has been
done in animal behavior and neurobiology, it is still unknown how these
distributed sensors interact with each other to process sensory information. Several behavioral studies have used the leech as a navigation model
system to understand how different stimulus modalities impact behavior. Neurophysiological studies examined the output of specific neurons
in the leech when they were stimulated with electric pulses, and correlated the response of these neurons to observed behaviors. Our work
uses existing data from animal experiments to construct a mathematical model that accurately replicates the behavior of a leech when it is
given various forms of simulated stimuli. The distributed sensors in the
leech were modeled by ellipses, allowing the neurons to detect stimuli
in a two-dimensional environment and navigate towards a target location. The development and validation of this model offers a fast and low
cost way to study leech behavior, complement animal experiments, and
provide insights into the underlying mechanics of distributed sensing in
animals. Additionally, the findings may provide insights into novel dataprocessing methods and architectures for man-made sensory systems that
rely on multiple sensors.
Keywords: Distributed sensing · Multimodal sensing · Leech
1 Introduction
Distributed sensing refers to the spatial distribution of sensors in an organism,
allowing it to detect stimuli from single or multiple sensory modalities (Fig. 1).
Every animal with a nervous system uses an array of sensors (i.e., distributed
sensing) to convert sensory stimuli to different behaviors. To successfully forage
and survive, animals must be able to integrate and process distributed sensory
information to direct action under a multitude of environmental conditions. In
addition, distributed sensing and nervous-system-like computing offers several
c
Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
V. Vouloutsi et al. (Eds.): Living Machines 2020, LNAI 12413, pp. 275–287, 2020.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-64313-3_27
on Distributed Sensing in the Leech
Sebastian T. Nichols
1 , Catherine E. Kehl
1 , Brian K. Taylor
1(B) ,
and Cynthia Harley
2
1 The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
brian.taylor@unc.edu
2 Metropolitan State University, St. Paul, MN 55106, USA
cindy.harley@metrostate.edu
Abstract. Animals use sensors that are distributed along their body to
process information from the environment, leading to behavioral actions
that will prolong their survival. Although extensive research has been
done in animal behavior and neurobiology, it is still unknown how these
distributed sensors interact with each other to process sensory information. Several behavioral studies have used the leech as a navigation model
system to understand how different stimulus modalities impact behavior. Neurophysiological studies examined the output of specific neurons
in the leech when they were stimulated with electric pulses, and correlated the response of these neurons to observed behaviors. Our work
uses existing data from animal experiments to construct a mathematical model that accurately replicates the behavior of a leech when it is
given various forms of simulated stimuli. The distributed sensors in the
leech were modeled by ellipses, allowing the neurons to detect stimuli
in a two-dimensional environment and navigate towards a target location. The development and validation of this model offers a fast and low
cost way to study leech behavior, complement animal experiments, and
provide insights into the underlying mechanics of distributed sensing in
animals. Additionally, the findings may provide insights into novel dataprocessing methods and architectures for man-made sensory systems that
rely on multiple sensors.
Keywords: Distributed sensing · Multimodal sensing · Leech
1 Introduction
Distributed sensing refers to the spatial distribution of sensors in an organism,
allowing it to detect stimuli from single or multiple sensory modalities (Fig. 1).
Every animal with a nervous system uses an array of sensors (i.e., distributed
sensing) to convert sensory stimuli to different behaviors. To successfully forage
and survive, animals must be able to integrate and process distributed sensory
information to direct action under a multitude of environmental conditions. In
addition, distributed sensing and nervous-system-like computing offers several
c
Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
V. Vouloutsi et al. (Eds.): Living Machines 2020, LNAI 12413, pp. 275–287, 2020.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-64313-3_27