Plants could soon have robotic counterparts. Barbara Mazzolai
from the Italian Institute of Technology in Genoa and colleagues are
creating a system that mimics the behaviour of roots. The team plans to
use bespoke soft sensors for underground exploration, tips that grow by
unwinding material and a mechanism to reduce friction when penetrating
the soil. The artificial system will be equipped to detect gravity,
water, temperature, touch, pH, nitrate and phosphate.
Modelling a growing root is complex
because it bends while increasing in length, adding cells on the
opposite side from the direction in which it is heading. At the same
time, a root perceives several physical and chemical stimuli at once and
prioritises them; how it makes these decisions is not completely
understood. "The mock-ups and prototypes we've developed aim to validate
some of the functions and features of plant roots," says Mazzolai.
In addition to mimicking a single root,
the team is also looking at how roots interact with each other,
coordinating their movements through soil. "New findings could be the
basis for novel swarm intelligence," says Mazzolai.
The system could produce more energy-efficient robots
that can adapt to their environment. An obvious use for plant-like
robots is environmental monitoring in soil, but their knack for
exploration and ability to anchor themselves could have applications in
space.
They also have potential uses in medicine, for example as flexible, growing endoscopes
that can move easily inside a human body. "The ability to bend, grow at
low pressure and with low friction while adapting to the surrounding
environment could offer a new vision for medical tools," says Mazzolai.
The system was shown last week at the Living Machines conference in London.
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