Issue date: 11/14/07 Section: News

Media Credit: Michael Ignatov Charles Higgins, an associate professor of electrical computer engineering and neurobiology, with his brainchild 'Robo-moth.' Three years in the making, this moth-controlled robot was designed to study neurons in a new way and to harness moths' visual and olfactory systems.

A UA professor has hooked up a robot to the brain of a moth, enabling it to move with precision and orient itself to follow a pattern.

Charles Higgins, associate professor of electrical engineering and neurobiology, has created a way to use the electrical impulses from a moth's brain to control the movements of a robot in the same way the moth would normally control its own muscles.

This achievement has far-reaching implications for the future of everything from explosives-detection to bridging the gap between organic and silicon-based computing in ways that currently lie in the realm of science fiction.

Higgins presented his work last week at the Society for Neuroscience's annual meeting in San Diego.

"The idea occurred to me a few years ago," he said.

Higgins had previously worked with other types of insects but wanted one that was small and cheap yet larger than the flies he had previously selected. He decided on the tobacco hornworm moth, also known as the hawk moth.

The UA has a moth colony used for research, for which each moth costs only $4, Higgins said.

In the experiment, a tungsten needle was coated with Teflon, a non-stick coating, up until the very end of the needle, which housed an electrode. The needle was inserted into a moth's brain and connected to just one cell.

"It had to be within a few microns," Higgins said.

Timothy Melano, a biomedical engineering doctoral student who performed the procedure, used a micromanipulator to place the needle just right. It took 10 months and the advice of an Australian professor for Melano to learn the proper technique.

"We went through dozens, probably," he said of their practice moths.

The moth was placed in a plastic tube and glued to the side with a drop of wax to prevent it from moving.

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