Biohybrid robot is wired to “hear” with grasshoppers’ ears

Researchers at Tel Aviv University have sought to create a robot by integrating grasshopper ears into a robot. The robot can then react to noises picked up by the biosensors, which could pave the way for more sensitive and efficient sensors.

No matter how well-designed or how powerful we create something, it’s very likely that nature has not only defeated us, but also did so with far better results than we have. can hope.

So why compete? Instead of designing their own poor technology from scratch, scientists are increasingly exploiting natural versions, combining them with robots or electronic systems. That way, cyborg rake can be used to sniff out explosive chemicals, cyborg cockroaches can perform search and rescue missions and cyborg dragonflies can act like drones. The driver is highly maneuverable.

For the new study, the Tel Aviv researchers connected a biological sensor – the grasshopper’s ear – to a robot in place of its conventional microphone, allowing it to respond to sounds. The team took the organs out of a dead grasshopper and stored it in a “headset on a chip” device that supplies it with oxygen and nutrients, to keep it alive and active.

The headphone electrical signals on this chip are then amplified and transmitted to the robot, programmed to respond in different ways. In the tests, researchers clapped their hands once the robot moved forward, while two claps made it move backwards.

This advancement demonstrates how we can take advantage of natural sensors, the team says, saving scientists some development time that only yielded side effects.

“Overall, biological systems have a huge advantage over technological systems – both in terms of sensitivity and energy consumption,” said Ben Maoz, author of the study. integration between robots and insects – and could make cumbersome and more costly developments in the robot realm redundant ”.

The research has been published in the journal Sensor.

Source: Tel Aviv University via ScienceDaily