Fig 1.
Experimental system for maze solving.
Fig 2.
Maze solving by our algorithm.
The yellow cell is the current position of the explorer. Blue cells indicate a unique road to the target. Cyan cells are cells which have not been explored, and walls of these cells now are unknown to the explorer. Pink slash (“∖”) denotes the non-visited dead road, red cross (“×”) denotes the visited dead road. (a) Left-hand. (b)Right-hand.
Fig 3.
Steps and coverage rates of maze solving by our algorithm, wall follower, Pledge and Tremaux’s algorithm.
Results are presented as mean±s.e.m. on the right. *p<0.05, **p<0.01, ***p<0.001.
Fig 4.
The red point is the body position, the black point is the head position, and the blue line is the heading direction of the rat cyborg. Our rat cyborg tracking method (see Algorithm 2) is implemented by OpenCV. Blue cells indicate a unique road to the target. Red cells are cells which have not been explored, and walls of these cells now are unknown to the rat cyborg. The pink slash (“∖”) denotes the non-visited dead road, the red cross (“×”) denotes the visited dead road, and the yellow “g” denotes entrances to the unexplored area. Consecutive blue points indicate the shortest path to the current destination. The shortest path is detected by A* algorithm [37].
Fig 5.
Steps of maze solving by computer, rats and rat cyborgs.
The steps of maze solving by DH12, SV15, SV17, MV12, M01 and M03 are shown from the top to the bottom, respectively. Data are presented as mean±s.e.m. on the right. *p<0.05, **p<0.01, ***p<0.001.
Fig 6.
Coverage rates of maze solving by computer, rats and rat cyborgs.
The coverage rates of maze solving by DH12, SV15, SV17, MV12, M01 and M03 are shown from the top to the bottom, respectively. Data are presented as mean±s.e.m. on the right. *p<0.05, **p<0.01, ***p<0.001.
Fig 7.
Time spent of maze solving by rats and rat cyborgs.
The time spent of maze solving by DH12, SV15, SV17, MV12, M01 and M03 are shown from the top to the bottom, respectively. Data are presented as mean±s.e.m. on the right. *p<0.05, **p<0.01, ***p<0.001.
Fig 8.
The Pearson’s correlation coefficients of steps and coverage rates between each other within the six rats/rat cyborgs.
(a) Correlation coefficients of steps within the six rats. (b) Correlation coefficients of steps within the six rat cyborgs. (c) Correlation coefficients of coverage rates within the six rats. (d) Correlation coefficients of coverage rates within the six rat cyborgs.
Table 1.
The Pearson’s correlation coefficients of steps and coverage rates between computer and rats, computer and rat cyborgs, and rats and rat cyborgs.
Fig 9.
Steps, coverage rates and time spent of maze solving by computer, M01 and M03 in maze 15 to maze 19.
(a) Steps of maze solving by computer and M01. (b) Steps of maze solving by computer and M03. (c) Coverage rates of maze solving by computer and M01. (d) Coverage rates of maze solving by computer and M03. (e) Time spent of maze solving by computer and M01. (f) Time spent of maze solving by computer and M03.
Fig 10.
Steps, coverage rates and time spent of maze solving by computer, M01 and M03 in maze 20 to maze 24.
(a) Steps of maze solving by computer and M01. (b) Steps of maze solving by computer and M03. (c) Coverage rates of maze solving by computer and M01. (d) Coverage rates of maze solving by computer and M03. (e) Time spent of maze solving by computer and M01. (f) Time spent of maze solving by computer and M03.