First came robots, then robotic plants that grow

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By Matthew Griffin Robo Revolution 18th October 2018

WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF

Robotic plants could help find mines and pollutants buried in soil, or be used to explore alien planets for signs of organic material.

Plants are getting a lot of attention all of a sudden, whether it’s from researchers who are trying to turn them into surveillance devices and discovering they learn like dogs, or other researchers turning them into bioluminescent lights or mini renewable power plants. No pun intended. Now though a group of Italian scientists have taken artificial plants to the next level and created the world’s first bionic plant. The robotic plants have roots that grow and unwind into soil just like the real thing, only they’re made up of metal and wires. The robo-plants can help scientists detect gravity, water, temperature, touch, pH, nitrate and phosphate, in environments of any kind.

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Headed by Barbara Mazzolai, the team at the Institute of Technology in Italy have been developing the robotic plant to mimic the functions of a single root. The robo-roots plunge into the soil using soft sensors to help guide them along their way into the ground material. Testing for rocks and impenetrable areas, the sensors pave the way for the synthetic roots to unwind to safety. The robotic roots then unfurl and extend, much like a real plant’s does, taking shape to the area around it.

Check it out

Once the system is firmly rooted, it can begin testing the soil and environment around it. The robo-plants would be ideal for testing soil in contaminated areas or disaster zones, but if further developed to become more durable it could possibly even test out soil in space. The artificial plant design could also be valuable in the medical world, in much smaller, microscopic sizes. They technology could be applied to endoscopes, that could move easily throughout the body, and bend and adapt to the environment.

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The adaptive quality of the robotic plants could make leaps and bounds in many fields in the scientific realm. The developers are working on studying the communication between roots underground, and hope to employ it to the robo plants.

Source: New Scientist

Matthew Griffin / About Author

Described by NASA as a "Walking Encyclopaedia of the Future" and one of the world’s most in demand keynote speakers Matthew Griffin, Founder and Futurist in Chief of the 311 Institute, a global Futures and Deep Futures advisory firm, is a multi-award winning Futurist and strategic foresight expert, author, lecturer, mentor, podcast and YouTube host.

With a distinguished career running global business units at Atos, EMC, and IBM today Matthew helps leaders and titans of industry from all over the world explore the impact of the inter sections of technology, culture, and leadership, then helps them create high performance organisations that can continuously disrupt, outpace, and outthink their competition.

15 times author of the hit series the Codex of the Future series Matthew's ability to identify, track, and explain the impacts of hundreds of emerging technologies and trends on global business, culture, and society has earned him a powerful reputation and a roster of clients that include royal households, world leaders across the G7, G20, and G77, and many of the world's most recognised and exceptional organisations including ABB, Accenture, ABN Amro, Adidas, AON, ARM, BCG, Centrica, Citi Group, Coca Cola, Deloitte, Dentons, Disney, Dow, EY, Google, KPMG, Lego, Microsoft, Legal & General, LinkedIn, Nokia, Paramount, PepsiCo, PWC, Qualcomm, RWE, Samsung, T-Mobile, UBS, Visa, WIRED, WPP and hundreds of others.

Matthew is regularly featured in the global media including the AP, BBC, Bloomberg, CNBC, Discovery, Forbes, Khaleej Times, Telegraph, TIME, ViacomCBS, WIRED, and the WSJ, and his mission is to help organisations create a fair and sustainable future whose benefits are shared by everyone irrespective of their ability, background, or circumstances.