Using Dead Locust Ear as Sensors for a Robot
Written by AZoRoboticsMar 3 2021
A technological and biological development that is unprecedented in Israel and 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 the ear s electrical signals 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 moves backwards.
The interdisciplinary study was led by Idan Fishel, a joint master student under the joint supervision of Dr. Ben M. Maoz of the Iby and Aladar Fleischman Faculty of Engineering and the Sagol School of Neuroscience, Prof. Yossi Yovel and Prof. Amir Ayali, experts from the School of Zoology and the Sagol School of Neuroscience together with -, Dr. Anton Sheinin, Idan, Yoni Amit, and Neta Shavil. The results of the study were published in the prestigious
This robot hears with the ears of a locust
When biology and human technology come together.
The locust ear inside the chip. Credit: Tel Aviv University.
In an unprecedented integration of biological systems into technological systems, researchers in Israel showed how the senses of a dead locust can be used as a sensor for a robot. Instead of a microphone, the robot used the dead insect’s ears to detect sounds and respond accordingly.
“We chose the sense of hearing, because it can be easily compared to existing technologies, in contrast to the sense of smell, for example, where the challenge is much greater,” says Dr. Ben Maoz of Tel Aviv University.
Nathan Jeffay is The Times of Israel s health and science correspondent
Part of the Tel Aviv University robot fitted with a locust ear, with the ear visible (courtesy of Tel Aviv University)
Israeli scientists have successfully wired a locust ear into a robot, and say the breakthrough could pave the way for animal parts to become the microphones and cameras of the future.
The robot at Tel Aviv University “listens” to sounds around it using the ear of a dead locust. Upon hearing one clap it moves forward; upon hearing two claps in quick succession it moves backward.
Researchers behind the breakthrough say it is the first time a sense organ has been integrated into electronics, and therefore a “proof of concept” that shows that the full sensory capacity of animal parts noses, eyes, ears and touch sensors can be harnessed and information they gather fed to machines.
Tel Aviv University researchers have opened the door to sensory integrations between robots and insects: for the first time, the ear of a dead locust was.
03 March 2021
Scientists report connecting the ear of a dead locust to a robot that receives the ear s electrical signals and responds accordingly.
Researchers at Tel Aviv University have successfully connected the ear of a dead locust to a robot that receives the ear s electrical signals 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 moves backwards.
The interdisciplinary study was led by Idan Fishel, a joint master student under the joint supervision of Dr Ben M. Maoz of the Iby and Aladar Fleischman Faculty of Engineering and the Sagol School of Neuroscience, Professor Yossi Yovel and Professor Amir Ayali (experts from the School of Zoology and the Sagol School of Neuroscience) – together with Dr Anton Sheinin, Idan, Yoni Amit, and Neta Shavil. The results of the study were published in the journal Sensors.