Symposium: Sensory feedback and animal locomotion: perspectives from biology and biorobotics, January 5, 2018, San Francisco, California

Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley MA

Investigators

Abstract

The appendages animals use for locomotion, such as wings and limbs, perform dual roles as sensors and propulsors. Timely and relevant feedback from the sensors is critical to the locomotor performance of animals and is a key design feature of robotic engineering. In order to advance the study of the role of sensory feedback in animal locomotion, a symposium, entitled "Sensory feedback and animal locomotion: perspectives from biology and biorobotics," will be held in San Francisco, CA on January 5, 2018 at the Society for Comparative Biology and Anatomy's (SICB) Annual Meeting. Through a diverse group of researchers, this symposium will highlight the relevant sensory stimuli associated with animal movement, the different strategies for encoding stimuli, and the intersection between biology, engineering, and robotics. This gathering will catalyze new interdisciplinary collaborations between biologists and engineers and identify future research directions for the development of sensory control systems that can be implemented in robotics. Additionally, this symposium will include a mentorship program that enables six Native American undergraduate students to attend their first scientific meeting. Six graduate students/postdocs, who also belong to underrepresented groups in STEM, will act as mentors to the Native American students. The mentorship program will ensure that this meeting is an enriching experience for the undergraduates and will expose them to a variety of scientific disciplines, prospective graduate school mentors, and scientific career paths. The locomotor appendages of animals, from insect wings to tetrapod limbs, perform dual roles as sensors and propulsors, and sensory feedback is critical to the motor performance of animals. An interdisciplinary symposium, "Sensory feedback and animal locomotion: perspectives from biology and biorobotics," will be held at the Society for Comparative Biology and Anatomy's (SICB) Annual Meeting. Robotic appendages that are integrated with sensors will also rely on sensory feedback to adjust output signals. While engineers often look to biology for solutions to problems experienced in robotic movement, biologists too must engage with engineers to utilize computer and robotic models to help answer questions on the role of sensory feedback in generating effective movement. Through a group of scientists spanning a range of disciplines and career stages, the symposium will demonstrate biological principles for mechanosensory feedback of propulsor movement that could be implemented in engineered devices and foster the development of future research programs aimed to further integrate the fields of engineering and robotics with more traditional biology. Further, a successful mentorship program, in collaboration with the Native Explorers Program, will be reestablished to bring Native American undergraduates to participate in their first scientific meeting. Each Native American undergraduate will be paired with a mentor to ensure an enriching and positive experience. This program will offer a unique opportunity for Native American students that would otherwise not experience interactions with a diverse group of researchers of different experience levels, types of institutions, research disciplines and racial backgrounds.