Robotic technologies have shown the capability to interact with living organisms and even to form integrated mixed societies composed of living and artificial agents. Biocompatible robots, incorporating sensing and actuation capable of generating and responding to relevant stimuli, can be a tool to study collective behaviors previously unattainable with traditional techniques. To investigate collective behaviors of the western honeybee ( Apis mellifera ), we designed a robotic system capable of observing and modulating the bee cluster using an array of thermal sensors and actuators. We initially integrated the system into a beehive populated with about 4000 bees for several months. The robotic system was able to observe the colony by continuously collecting spatiotemporal thermal profiles of the winter cluster. Furthermore, we found that our robotic device reliably modulated the superorganism’s response to dynamic thermal stimulation, influencing its spatiotemporal reorganization. In addition, after identifying the thermal collapse of a colony, we used the robotic system in a “life-support” mode via its thermal actuators. Ultimately, we demonstrated a robotic device capable of autonomous closed-loop interaction with a cluster comprising thousands of individual bees. Such biohybrid societies open the door to investigation of collective behaviors that necessitate observing and interacting with the animals within a complete social context, as well as for potential applications in augmenting the survivability of these pollinators crucial to our ecosystems and our food supply.

中文翻译：

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用于与蜜蜂群互动的机器人蜂窝

机器人技术已经显示出与生物体相互作用的能力，甚至可以形成由生物体和人工体组成的综合混合社会。具有生物相容性的机器人结合了能够产生和响应相关刺激的传感和驱动，可以成为研究以前用传统技术无法实现的集体行为的工具。调查西部蜜蜂的集体行为（意大利蜜蜂)，我们设计了一个机器人系统，能够使用一系列热传感器和执行器观察和调节蜜蜂群。我们最初将该系统集成到一个装有大约 4000 只蜜蜂的蜂箱中，持续了几个月。机器人系统能够通过连续收集冬季星团的时空热剖面来观察蜂群。此外，我们发现我们的机器人设备可靠地调节了超有机体对动态热刺激的反应，影响了它的时空重组。此外，在确定蜂群的热崩溃后，我们通过其热致动器以“生命支持”模式使用机器人系统。最终，我们展示了一种机器人设备，该设备能够与由数千只蜜蜂组成的集群进行自主闭环交互。