Using RoboChick to Identify the Behavioral Features Promoting Social Interactions

• Published in: 2021 IEEE International Conference on Development and Learning (ICDL) pp. 1 - 6
• Main Authors: Slonina, Zuzanna, Bonzini, Aramis Augusto, Brown, Joshua, Wang, Shuge, Farkhatdinov, Ildar, Althoefer, Kaspar, Jamone, Lorenzo, Versace, Elisabetta
• Format: Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Published: IEEE 23.08.2021
• Subjects: Animals; Conferences; Manufacturing; Protocols; Robots
• DOI: 10.1109/ICDL49984.2021.9515641

Studies of social behaviors in animals are faced with various methodological difficulties, which can be addressed by using controlled artificial social agents. Previous studies have shown that various animal species interact with passive replicas or interactive robots that mimic their conspecifics. In the case of chickens, filial attachment (imprinting) to robots is observed in young chicks. However, the features and functions of the robots that maximize the efficiency of chicken-robot attachment have not yet been identified. Therefore, we designed RoboChick, a simple robot that can be easily customized with different features. Further, we developed a protocol for assessing the attractiveness of each feature. In the current study, we tested the attractiveness of two RoboChick features during robot-chick interactions: the presence of flashing lights and vocalizations in response to chick interactions. Our proposed protocol proved suitable for assessing the efficacy of the features. RoboChick, which is open and modular, can be easily reproduced by other research groups and adapted to test different features in different experimental conditions.