Modeling stress and strain in an insect leg for simulation of campaniform sensilla responses to external forces

Abstract. Campaniform sensilla (cs) on insect legs are stimulated by strain in the cuticle produced by forces applied to the leg, and generate action potentials when the strain is sufficiently high. We modeled the tibia of the American cockroach, Periplaneta americana, as a hollow, circular tube and developed a simulation of cs responses to external forces by solving equations of mechanics as applied to the leg to obtain values for stress and strain, then converting strain to action potentials. Based on the close correspondence between our simulated responses and the 1981 physiological results of Zill and Moran, we suggest that our model may be useful in assessing the performance of experimentally inaccessible cs groups during walking.

[1]  S. Zill,et al.  The mechanism of sensory transduction in a mechanoreceptor. Functional stages in campaniform sensilla during the molting cycle , 1976, The Journal of cell biology.

[2]  F. G. Evans,et al.  The mechanical properties of bone. , 1969, Artificial limbs.

[3]  S. Zill.  Proprioceptive Feedback and the Control of Cockroach Walking , 1985 .

[4]  J. Thorson,et al.  Distributed Relaxation Processes in Sensory Adaptation , 1974, Science.

[5]  H. Cruse.  What mechanisms coordinate leg movement in walking arthropods? , 1990, Trends in Neurosciences.

[6]  T. Weis-Fogh,et al.  Biology and physics of locust flight. V. Strength and elasticity of locust cuticle , 1962, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences.

[7]  F Delcomyn,et al.  An approach to validation of a leg simulation by the comparison of two dynamic models. , 1995, Computers in Biology and Medicine.

[8]  S. A..  Action potential adaptation in the femoral tactile spine of the cockroach, Periplaneta americana , .

[9]  S. Zill,et al.  The Exoskeleton and Insect Proprioception: II. Reflex Effects of Tibial Campaniform Sensilla in the American Cockroach, Periplaneta Americana , 1981 .

[10]  K. Krämer,et al.  Flight-inhibition on ground contact in the American cockroach, Periplaneta americana—I. Contact receptors and a model for their central connections , 1978 .

[11]  H. Saunders,et al.  Mechanics of Materials (2nd Ed.) , 1986 .

[12]  Mark E. Nelson,et al.  Sense Organs of Insect Legs and the Selection of Sensors for Agile Walking Robots , 1996, Int. J. Robotics Res..

[13]  Werner Schiehlen,et al.  Equations of Motion and Equations of Stress for Robots and Manipulators: An Application of the NEWEUL Formalism , 1985 .

[14]  Time-Life Books,et al.  WALKING AND RUNNING. , 1885, Science.

[15]  K. M. Chapman,et al.  A Linear Transfer Function underlying Impulse Frequency Modulation in a Cockroach Mechanoreceptor , 1963, Nature.

[16]  A. Ugural,et al.  Advanced strength and applied elasticity , 1981 .

[17]  Michael Locke,et al.  Chapter 2 – THE STRUCTURE AND FORMATION OF THE INTEGUMENT IN INSECTS , 1974 .

[18]  J. Pringle.  Proprioception In Insects: II. The Action Of The Campaniform Sensilla On The Legs , 1938 .

[19]  S. Zill,et al.  THE EXOSKELETON AND INSECT PROPRIOCEPTION. I. RESPONSES OF TIBIAL CAMPANIFORM SENSILLA TO EXTERNAL AND MUSCLE-GENERATED FORCES IN THE AMERICAN COCKROACH, PERIPLANETA AMERICANA , 1981 .

[20]  Rebecca Schiavone,et al.  The insect exoskeleton: A natural structural composite , 1989 .

[21]  W. Loewenstein,et al.  EXCITATION AND INACTIVATION IN A RECEPTOR MEMBRANE * , 1961, Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences.

[22]  Thomas A. Keil,et al.  Functional morphology of insect mechanoreceptors , 1997, Microscopy research and technique.

[23]  T. Michael Souders,et al.  Accurate frequency response determinations from discrete step response data , 1987, IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation and Measurement.

[24]  H. R. Hepburn,et al.  On the structure and mechanical properties of beetle shells , 1973 .