Researchers at the Beijing Institute of Technology have developed an AI-powered robotic rat designed to mimic real rodents, providing a novel approach to studying social behavior and emotional responses in rats.
Equipped with a bionic spine, two front arms, and wheels for enhanced mobility, the robot replicates natural movements and actions like reaching, bending, and twisting. To ensure social acceptance, it is coated with rat urine and trained to perform behaviors such as aggressive pinning, playful pouncing, and nose-touching interactions.
In laboratory settings, where isolation or overcrowding can cause stress, the robotic rat fosters genuine interaction with live rats. Using its camera to track real rats, the robot initiates social interactions and adjusts its behavior based on the responses it observes. Experiments demonstrated that real rats reacted fearfully to aggressive interactions but displayed positive behaviors during playful engagement, showing the robot’s ability to influence their emotional states effectively.
This robotic rat serves as both a research tool for studying cognition and social behavior in animals and a means of improving laboratory rat welfare. Researchers believe it sets a new standard in robot-animal interaction and offers insights into potential human-AI social dynamics.
These findings, published in Nature Machine Intelligence, suggest that biohybrid systems like this could advance our understanding of interactions between living organisms and AI.
