Plant roots respond to touch and bending with cell shape change and an internal signal of increased concentration of cytosolic calcium, Ca2+. Plant cells possess mechanoperception in the ability of their cells to deform in response to external and internal mechanical forces. Stretching processes and mechanoperception of the plant root inspired the development of a soft robotics approach where capacitive sensitive elements conform to the shape of the soft body and follow its deformations. An osmotic actuator module was also presented. A prototype of the mechatronic apex system was tested with a bio-inspired algorithm reproduced the gravitropism and hydrotropism behaviors of plants. Taking inspiration from the way a root moves through substrate, orienting with respect to gravity and locating water and nutrients, the mechatronic apex is embedded with a gravity sensor, a soil moisture gradient detector and the electronics for sensory data acquisition and steering. The research team included Barbara Mazzolai and was lead by Paolo Dario at the Center for Research in Microengineering and Advanced Robotics Technologies and Systems Laboratories, Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, Pontedera, Italy. Principles, theoretical investigations and experimental measurements towards designing a mechatronic system called apex, for soil exploration, inspired by plant roots was described in 2011. Mancuso was a partner in the Plantoid Project and the coordinator was Barbara Mazzolai at the Center for Micro-BioRobotics, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT). Plants have also been found to communicate with other plants nearby by releasing volatiles as an alert to pathogen attacks. Baluska’s research into root behavior and responding to gravity and light demonstrated that plants make decisions based on sensory perceptions. The Plantoid Project was partly inspired by plant intelligence research findings from researchers such as Stefano Mancuso, Elisabeth Von Volkenburgh, Monica Gagliano and Frantisek Baluska. The goals of the project were 1) to abstract and synthesize with robotic artefacts the principles that enable plant roots to explore and adapt to underground environments and 2) formulate testable hypotheses and models. The European Commission funded The Plantoid Project from 2012 to 2015. is of several distributed and self-organizing modules, rather than a centralized system. The plantoid concept proposed by Mazzolai et al.
The authors make an analogy between the ability of plant roots to navigate towards resources such as water and nutrients and the collective behavior in birds during long-range migration. The growth of roots appears coordinated despite a central nervous system. The reiteration and swarm behavior of roots are aspects that Mazzolai et al. Furthermore, leaves are proposed to include photovoltaic cells. The authors, lead by Stefano Mancuso, divide a plantoid can into three main sub-systems: 1) a main body with batteries, electronics and radio systems 2) the root system, with electro-osmotic actuators 3) the root apex with sensors. (2010) to consist of task-specialized modules representing their natural counterparts and functionalities. The concept of a plantoid was proposed by Mazzolai et al. Plants can also provide inspiration for building soft robots out of compliant materials with the ability to interact in a soft and safe manner with the environment and humans. Inspiration from plants provides an opportunity to design movement with less part numbers.
Compared to animal muscular motions, plant movements are water driven, distributed, energy efficient and integrative. Plant cells and tissues provide movement capability and structural rigidity without the distinction between ‘actuators’ and ‘structures’ common to animal systems.
It has been recognized that plant actuation and morphing mechanisms have applications in soft robotics. Potential applications proposed for plantoids include soil drilling, environmental monitoring, orthopedic supports and surgical robots. Characteristics and mechanisms of interacting with the environment such as the sensing and growing features of plant roots and the grasping behavior of tendrils have inspired plantoid designs. Plantoids belong to the field of biorobotics where biological knowledge is used to develop innovative methodologies and technologies and bio-inspired robots serve as a tool to study living organisms.
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