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Unprecedented technological and biological development in Israel and around the world has been achieved at Tel Aviv University. For the first time, the ear of a dead locust has been connected to a robot that receives electrical signals from the ear and responds accordingly. The result is extraordinary: when the researchers clap once, the locust’s ear hears the sound and the robot moves forward; when the researchers clap twice, the robot backs up.
The interdisciplinary study was led by Idan Fishel, a joint master’s student under the joint supervision of Dr Ben M. Maoz of the Iby and Aladar Fleischman Engineering Faculty and Sagol School of Neuroscience, Professor Yossi Yovel and the Professor Amir Ayali experts from the School of Zoology and the School of Neuroscience Sagol with -, Dr Anton Sheinin, Idan, Yoni Amit and Neta Shavil. The results of the study were published in the prestigious journal Sensors.
The researchers explain that at the start of the study, they set out to examine how the advantages of biological systems could be integrated into technological systems, and how the senses of the dead locust could be used as sensors for a robot. “We chose the sense of hearing because it can be easily compared to existing technologies, unlike the sense of smell, for example, where the challenge is much greater,” says Dr Maoz. “Our task was to replace the robot’s electronic microphone with a dead insect ear, to use the ear’s ability to sense electrical signals from the environment, in this case vibrations in the air, and, using a special chip, convert the insect input into this. of the robot. “
To carry out this unique and unconventional task successfully, the interdisciplinary team (Maoz, Yovel and Ayali) faced a number of challenges. First, the researchers built a robot capable of responding to signals it receives from the environment. Then, in a multidisciplinary collaboration, the researchers were able to isolate and characterize the dead locust ear and keep it alive, i.e. functional, long enough to successfully connect it to the robot. In the last step, the researchers managed to find a way to pick up the signals received by the locust’s ear in a way that could be used by the robot. At the end of the process, the robot was able to “hear” the sounds and respond accordingly.
“Professor Ayali’s lab has extensive experience working with locusts, and they have developed the skills to isolate and characterize the ear,” says Dr Maoz. “Professor Yovel’s lab built the robot and developed code that allows the robot to respond to electrical auditory signals. And my lab has developed a special device – Ear-on-a-Chip – that allows the ear to stay alive throughout the experiment. by providing oxygen and food to the organ, while allowing electrical signals to be removed from the locust’s ear and amplified and transmitted to the robot.
“In general, biological systems have a huge advantage over technological systems – both in terms of sensitivity and in terms of energy consumption. This initiative by researchers at Tel Aviv University opens the door to sensory integrations between robots and insects – and can make much more cumbersome and expensive developments in the field of robotics redundant.
“You have to understand that biological systems consume negligible energy compared to electronic systems. They are miniature, and therefore also extremely economical and efficient. For comparison, a laptop uses around 100 watts per hour, while the human brain consumes around 20 watts per day. Nature is much more advanced than us, so we should be using it. The principle we have demonstrated can be used and applied to other senses, such as smell, sight and touch. For example, some animals have amazing abilities to detect explosives or drugs; creating a robot with a biological nose could help us preserve human life and identify criminals in ways that are not possible today. Some animals know how to detect disease. Others can feel earthquakes. Sky is the limit . ”
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