Navigation of a Freely Walking Fruit Fly in Infinite Space Using a Transparent Omnidirectional Locomotion Compensator (TOLC)

Abstract

Animal behavior is an essential element in behavioral neuroscience study. However, most behavior studies in small animals such as fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster) have been performed in a limited spatial chamber or by tethering the fly’s body on a fixture, which restricts its natural behavior. In this paper, we developed the Transparent Omnidirectional Locomotion Compensator (TOLC) for a freely walking fruit fly without tethering, which enables its navigation in infinite space. The TOLC maintains a position of a fruit fly by compensating its motion using the transparent sphere. The TOLC is capable of maintaining the position error Drosophila.

Keywords

• motion compensator
• tracking
• <i>Drosophila melanogaster</i>