COMB: Common Open Modular robotic platform for Bees
Researchers built a modular robot that fits inside a beehive to mimic dances and stimulate wings.
A team of researchers led by Pranav Kedia, Marie Messerich, and Tim Landgraf has introduced COMB (Common Open Modular robotic platform for Bees), a novel open-source robotic system designed to operate inside standard observation beehives. The platform addresses the unique challenges of in-hive robotics, such as spatial constraints, hive fouling (like wax and propolis), and the need for both sensing and localized actuation without constant hardware redesign. Its core is a compact XY positioning stage with a Movable Access Window (MAW) that allows tools to interact with the colony while maintaining a sealed hive boundary, protecting the bees' environment.
COMB's modularity is demonstrated through three specialized payloads: a biomimetic module that can replicate honeybee waggle dances for communication studies, a close-range scanner for creating detailed mosaics of the honeycomb, and an electromagnetic wing actuator for precise oscillatory stimulation. The embedded control architecture enables repeatable trajectory execution and signal generation. In characterization tests, the platform successfully tracked waggle-dance trajectories, performed multi-image stitching for comb analysis, and conducted video-based spectral analysis of wing movements. This positions COMB as a reusable, generalized successor to earlier task-specific systems, transforming how biologists conduct controlled, non-invasive experiments on live bee colonies.
- Open-source modular robot fits inside standard observation beehives for controlled experiments.
- Features three demo modules: a dance mimic, a comb scanner, and an electromagnetic wing stimulator.
- Enables precise, repeatable in-hive actuation and sensing, a successor to single-task systems.
Why It Matters
Provides a standardized tool for biologists to study bee communication and health with unprecedented robotic precision.