Bat-El Pinchasik

Logic circuits, a cornerstone of digital computation, have been increasingly adapted to microfluidic systems to enable autonomous, programmable fluidic operations that can also interact with the environment. Unlike traditional microfluidics, which rely on enclosed channels and external pumps, open microfluidics leverage capillary spontaneous flow to manipulate liquids. Integrating logic into these systems facilitates sequential dispensing, mixing, and reaction triggering, without the need for external electronic inputs or pumps. This study leverages elasto‐capillary coupling to implement logic in open microfluidic platforms, encoding binary operations through geometric constraints and responsive soft materials. We demonstrate the realization of fundamental gates (AND, OR, NOT, and XOR) and more complex circuits with computational capabilities (half‐adder and full‐adder). We construct a motorized actuation system that delivers the mechanical input with high reproducibility, supporting applications in diagnostics, microliter reaction handling, and interaction of fluidic systems with the environment. By combining simplicity in operation with the robustness of logic‐based control, this approach lays the foundation for next‐generation responsive microfluidic systems and mechano‐fluidic computing.

Female desert locusts ( Schistocerca gregaria ) excavate a narrow, deep burrow to deposit their eggs safely underground. By selecting an optimal site, guided by environmental cues and conditions, they maximize the survival probability of their offspring. Unlike conventional digging methods that involve removing soil, the locust forms a burrow by compressing the soil against the surrounding walls. The biomechanics of this unique behavior have been previously investigated. Here, the burrowing dynamics and 3D kinematics are further explored, focusing on the flexible, extendable abdomen of females and the trajectory of the digging valves. Inspired by these biological insights, a hybrid soft‐stiff robotic system is designed and developed to mimic the locust's digging mechanism and abdomen flexibility. Using this locust‐inspired robot, the study investigates whether the female locust's digging method confers an energetic advantage compared to alternative digging patterns. The findings reveal that the locust's burrowing technique enables efficient movement through granular material, and that deviating from her digging pattern can increase energy costs by up to 2.4‐fold and reduce the digging volume. This study highlights how robotic systems, modeled on biological processes, can both address fundamental biological questions and advance the development of innovative tools for excavation in granular environments and beyond.

Gecko-inspired adhesives have attracted considerable attention due to their unique combination of strong, yet reversible adhesion to diverse surfaces. However, their integration into robotic systems remains limited due to sensitivity to contact alignment, typically requiring near-perpendicular engagement. Yet, many robotic tasks involve varying approach and detachment angles, highlighting the need for adhesion that operates reliably across different orientations and loading conditions. This study addresses two key questions: Can the adhesion strength of gecko-inspired adhesives, integrated into robotic systems, be optimized using trajectory optimization? And is this optimization surface-dependent? A gecko-inspired adhesive was integrated on a robotic arm’s end-effector, which attached to and detached from surfaces along various trajectories. The arm’s energy expenditure for each attachment-detachment cycle, along with the corresponding adhesion strength, were measured. Online particle swarm optimization algorithm was applied to identify conditions that improve adhesion strength and facilitate detachment. Results show that trajectory optimization significantly improves both adhesion strength and detachment efficiency up to 17-fold, with surface-specific effectiveness. These findings underscore the importance of considering both the forces generated by gecko-inspired adhesives and the energy required by the robot to attach and detach from surfaces at various angles and positions. Using optimization, this study helps overcome current limitations in the use of gecko-inspired adhesives for robotic applications, including grippers and climbers.

Liquid diodes promote unidirectional flow. Flexible liquid diodes can break under compression, enabling innovative control of liquid flow in capillary directional structures.

Adult female desert locusts ( Schistocerca gregaria ) dig underground to lay their eggs, ensuring optimal conditions for successful hatching. Digging is performed using the two pairs of oviposition valves at the tip of the female's abdomen. These valves are subjected to considerable shear forces during the repeated digging cycles, potentially leading to wear over time. The resilience of the valves is investigated by analyzing the relationship between digging experience and valve damage and wear throughout the female locust's life. The findings reveal the ability of the valves to withstand the significant shear forces encountered during digging. Despite this resilience, however, perceptible limitations in the valves’ mechanical durability against wear are observed. Toward the end of the female locust's life, the valves show substantial signs of wear, indicating effective performance but with limited longevity, i.e., a designated life span that enables successful oviposition for ca . four oviposition cycles. A comparison of the valve material with that of the animals’ mandibles, which are used continuously throughout their life and show remarkable wear‐resistance, further highlights the evolutionary adaptation of the valve materials to their specific function, suggesting a trade‐off between energetic investment and the sufficient, or “good‐enough”, performance that is required for survival.

Insects flap their wings through a highly specialized musculoskeletal system that allows the wings to rotate about three degrees of freedom. Consequently, the wingtip trajectory is adjustable in 3D, and accompanied with appropriate wing feathering (wing pitch). Remarkably, the complex flapping motion is achieved by thoracic muscles acting on the wing hinge. The wings themselves do not possess muscles but adjust their shape and orientation by elastically deforming due to the loads applied on them during flapping. Previous attempts to develop insect‐inspired flapping drones have mostly focused on simplified linear flapping mechanisms, which do not utilize the interaction between the wing flexibility and flapping kinematics to its full potential. Here, the aim is to improve flapping drones’ performance by introducing mechanisms that mimic insects’ flight. The first is an elastic beam mechanism, allowing the wing root to swing during flapping, and the second is a passive wing pitch mechanism that allows the wing to rotate at stroke reversals. The two mechanisms are tested using high‐fidelity insect‐inspired 3D‐printed wings and show a sixfold improvement of aerodynamic performance compared to linear flapping kinetics of the same flexible wings. This underscores the necessity of bioinspired flapping mechanisms in future flapping drones.

Background: The female locust is equipped with unique digging tools, namely two pairs of valves—a dorsal and a ventral—utilized for excavating an underground hole in which she lays her eggs. This apparatus ensures that the eggs are protected from potential predators and provides optimal conditions for successful hatching. The dorsal and the ventral valves are assigned distinct roles in the digging process. Specifically, the ventral valves primarily function as anchors during propagation, while the dorsal valves displace soil and shape the underground tunnel. Results: In this study, we investigated the noticeable asymmetry and distinct shapes of the valves, using a geometrical model and a finite element method. Our analysis revealed that although the two pairs of valves share morphological similarities, they exhibit different 3D characteristics in terms of absolute size and structure. We introduced a structural characteristic, the skew of the valve cross-section, to quantify the differences between the two pairs of valves. Our findings indicate that these structural variations do not significantly contribute to the valves’ load-bearing capabilities under external forces. Conclusions: The evolutionary development of the form of the female locust digging valves is more aligned with fitting their respective functions rather than solely responding to biomechanical support needs. By understanding the intricate features of these locust valves, and using our geometrical model, valuable insights can be obtained for creating more efficient and specialized tools for various digging applications.

Locusts are renowned for their coordinated locomotion, in which juveniles swarm and walk in a synchronized fashion. While it is generally accepted that vision is the main form of communication enabling this behavior, it is suggested here that mechanical vibrations may also contribute to communication within the group. Using a laser Doppler vibrometer and accelerometer, the substrate vibration signals generated by locust walking, jumping, and coordinated marching were quantified in terms of frequency and amplitude. These mechanical signals were then artificially produced by a vibration generator and directly applied to the mechanical sensory receptors of experimental tethered locusts. A sensory threshold curve of the mechanical response of the locusts was established, in order to quantify and compare their ability to sense specific forms of locomotion. While the vibrations generated by individuals walking in an unsynchronized fashion were below the sensory threshold of the locust, our findings indicate that locusts are capable of sensing the vibration signals generated by locust hopping or by the collective marching of conspecifics. It is suggested that locusts in a swarm may use substrate-borne mechanical vibrations for communication within the group, and that vibration-based communication may have a role in locust collective behavior and coordinated marching.

Many organisms in nature use local interactions to generate global cooperative phenomena. To unravel how the behavior of individuals generates effective interactions within a group, we introduce a simple model, wherein each agent senses the presence of others nearby and changes its physical motion accordingly. This generates non-physical, or virtual interactions between agents. We study the radial distribution function and the cluster size distribution to quantify the emergent interactions for both social and anti-social behavior; We identify social behavior as when an agent exhibits a tendency to remain in the vicinity of other agents, whereas anti-social behavior as when it displays a tendency to escape from the vicinity of others. Using Langevin dynamics simulations in two and three spatial dimensions, we discover that under certain conditions, positive correlations, which indicate attraction can emerge even in the case of anti-social behavior. Our results are potentially useful for designing robotic swimmers that can swim collectively only based on sensing the distance to their neighbors, without measuring any orientational information.