Logic gates form the basis of modern digital computers, and from a theoretical perspective they are the unit of computation since they are the fundamental discrete logic element. By creating circuits of interconnected logic gates, computers can calculate more complex operations, such as adders, multiplexers, flips-flops, and eventually processing and control units. Herein, we use a 3D-printed platform consisting of a rectangular 2D-array of interconnected cells containing the Belousov–Zhabotinsky (BZ) reaction. This reaction can be made to oscillate between two states to simulate the binary codification of digital electronics. Within the platform each cell contains a magnetic stirrer that can be individually stirred to control the local oscillations of the BZ reaction in that cell, but all the cells are also weakly interconnected through the common medium, and here we used the convolution of their individual oscillations to perform heterotic computations. Moreover, the 3D-printed vessel can be fabricated using different architectures, to for example define how the cells are connected, and thus controlling how the oscillations propagate between them. We took advantage of these features to simulate the ”AND”, ”OR, and ”XOR” logic gates. We also implemented a 2D Cellular Automata. To do so we defined the cells where the BZ reaction oscillates as “on”, and set the transition rule as the propagation of oscillations from the “on” cells towards “off” ones. These results pave the way towards the development of more sophisticated unconventional computers, which might potentially enhance future Artificial Life implementations more effectively than current silicon-based advancements.

There is great interest in oil-in-water droplets as simple systems that display astonishingly complex behaviours. Recently, we reported a chemorobotic platform capable of autonomously exploring and evolving the behaviours these droplets can exhibit. The platform enabled us to undertake a large number of reproducible experiments, allowing us to probe the non-linear relationship between droplet composition and behaviour. Herein we introduce this work, and also report on the recent developments we have made to this system. These include new platforms to simultaneously evolve the droplets’ physical and chemical environments and the inclusion of selfreplicating molecules in the droplets.