Visual servo of muscle-powered optogenetic bioactuator

Live tissue bioactuators have been proposed as a new form of actuator. In this study, transgenic light-regulated dorsal vessel of Drosophila Melanogaster larva was used as a bioactuator. Feedback control of a bioactuated robotic arm using optical stimulation of the bioactuator and visual feedback of arm´s end effector was performed. In this study, we investigated the response of the bioactuator to localized optical stimulation. The contraction displacement of bioactuator varied with stimulated area of the bioactuator. Then, by varying total stimulated area of the bioactuator, we demonstrated position control of the robotic arm in a closed-loop system using visual feedback.