An animal psychological approach for personal robot design-interaction between a rat and a rat-robot

In this paper, we introduce an attempt to realize communication between rats and rat-robots for the advancement of communication between humans and robots. By repeating certain interactions between rats and robots, we aim to clarify the effective factors in communication. The experimental system is equipped with a CCD camera above the experimental field. The positions of the rat and the rat-robot are calculated in real-time. We have developed the Rat-Robot WM-5 (W_aseda M_ouse-No.5). The main features of the robot consist of the similarity in figure and size, the remote control by an FM receiver, the ability to change direction on the spot by the use of a two-wheel mechanism, the shaking of the head, and the behavioral imitation of a rat's mounting. An interactive experiment between a rat and a rat-robot was carried out with the developed system. The rat's behaviors were compared in two cases. The rat-robot mounted the rat in one situation but didn't do it in another. We observed that the robot's action of mounting the rat makes the rat more interested in the robot for longer period of time, and thus the mounting of the robot by the rat occurred. As a result, the imitation of the rat's mounting seems likely to work well in the communication between rats and rat-robots.