Modeling the Dynamic Sensory Discharges
of Insect Campaniform Sensilla
Nicholas S. Szczecinski 1(B) , Sasha N. Zill 2 , Chris J. Dallmann 3 ,
and Roger D. Quinn 1
1 Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44106, USA
nss36@case.edu
2 Marshall University, Huntington, WV 25755, USA
3 University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
Abstract. Insects monitor the forces on their legs via sensory organs called campaniform sensilla (CS) that detect cuticular strain. The afferent signals from the CS
produce highly dynamic, adaptive responses to even “simple” stimuli. To better
understand the advantageous properties of the system, we constructed a dynamical
model that describes some of these adaptive responses. We tuned the model parameters to reproduce the response time-courses from experimental data, and found
that the model could describe a variety of additional responses with these same
parameter values, suggesting that the model replicates the underlying dynamics
of CS afferents without overfitting to the data. In addition, our model captures
several gross characteristics of CS responses: 1) Responses encode the magnitude
of the applied force; 2) The peak response reflects the rate at which the force is
applied; 3) The response adapts to constant applied forces; and 4) The response
shows hysteresis under cyclic loading. Improved replication of CS responses to
applied forces will enable a more thorough understanding of how the nervous
system detects forces and controls walking, and will lead to the development of
more robust, self-calibrating strain sensors for robots.
Keywords: Insect · Campaniform sensilla · Robotics
1 Introduction
Campaniform sensilla (CS) are sensory organs embedded in the insect cuticle that measure strain [1]. Since stress and strain are related, CS effectively measure the forces
acting on the leg. However, CS are not simple sensors. While the sensory discharge (i.e.
total afferent nerve firing frequency) does reflect the static level of a constant applied
force, the overall response is dominated by sensitivity to force dynamics (e.g. dF/dt) [2,
3]. CS might best be thought of as dynamic sensors whose discharges reflect both force
and the rate of force [4] and exhibit hysteresis [2]. CS are also known to be sensitive to
the orientation of forces applied to the leg [5, 6].
Supported by the National Science Foundation (Grant Number 1704436).
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
V. Vouloutsi et al. (Eds.): Living Machines 2020, LNAI 12413, pp. 342–353, 2020.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-64313-3_33
of Insect Campaniform Sensilla
Nicholas S. Szczecinski 1(B) , Sasha N. Zill 2 , Chris J. Dallmann 3 ,
and Roger D. Quinn 1
1 Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44106, USA
nss36@case.edu
2 Marshall University, Huntington, WV 25755, USA
3 University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
Abstract. Insects monitor the forces on their legs via sensory organs called campaniform sensilla (CS) that detect cuticular strain. The afferent signals from the CS
produce highly dynamic, adaptive responses to even “simple” stimuli. To better
understand the advantageous properties of the system, we constructed a dynamical
model that describes some of these adaptive responses. We tuned the model parameters to reproduce the response time-courses from experimental data, and found
that the model could describe a variety of additional responses with these same
parameter values, suggesting that the model replicates the underlying dynamics
of CS afferents without overfitting to the data. In addition, our model captures
several gross characteristics of CS responses: 1) Responses encode the magnitude
of the applied force; 2) The peak response reflects the rate at which the force is
applied; 3) The response adapts to constant applied forces; and 4) The response
shows hysteresis under cyclic loading. Improved replication of CS responses to
applied forces will enable a more thorough understanding of how the nervous
system detects forces and controls walking, and will lead to the development of
more robust, self-calibrating strain sensors for robots.
Keywords: Insect · Campaniform sensilla · Robotics
1 Introduction
Campaniform sensilla (CS) are sensory organs embedded in the insect cuticle that measure strain [1]. Since stress and strain are related, CS effectively measure the forces
acting on the leg. However, CS are not simple sensors. While the sensory discharge (i.e.
total afferent nerve firing frequency) does reflect the static level of a constant applied
force, the overall response is dominated by sensitivity to force dynamics (e.g. dF/dt) [2,
3]. CS might best be thought of as dynamic sensors whose discharges reflect both force
and the rate of force [4] and exhibit hysteresis [2]. CS are also known to be sensitive to
the orientation of forces applied to the leg [5, 6].
Supported by the National Science Foundation (Grant Number 1704436).
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
V. Vouloutsi et al. (Eds.): Living Machines 2020, LNAI 12413, pp. 342–353, 2020.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-64313-3_33