Are self-driving cars truly safer than those controlled by humans? Fungal networks exhibit novel forms of strike patterns in response to internal stimuli, mimicking the functionality of nervous systems.
While mere decades of human innovation pale in comparison to billions of years of evolutionary refinement, a pragmatic approach acknowledges that embracing nature’s prototypes often proves more beneficial than attempting to recreate the wheel from scratch. That’s why innovative robotics has enabled us to develop autonomous systems, including robotic fish that propel themselves through water due to advanced buoyancy mechanisms, and robots that crawl using sophisticated algorithms and mechanical limbs. Ultimately, this approach could lead to the development of highly reactive robotic systems.
Scientists at Cornell University have created a pioneering biohybrid robot that leverages components from the animal kingdom – specifically, fungi – to revolutionize the field. Fungi communicate through electrical signals transmitted by their mycelium, a complex network of branching hyphae that serves as their equivalent of a nervous system. As the fungal network spread, the mycelium seamlessly integrated with the robotic’s electronic infrastructure, leveraging the bioelectric signals to operate the machinery?
Researchers developed an electrical interface that accurately recorded, processed, and converted the mycelium’s electrophysiological activity into a digital signal that robots could interpret. Upon dispatch to the actuators, the robotic system responds swiftly to fungal signals, triggered by subtle environmental changes, such as mild alterations.
The researchers developed two distinct versions of the innovative biohybrid robots. One is a seemingly straightforward wheeled device, in contrast to its counterpart, a spider-like contraption with soft, leg-like appendages. Under optimal conditions, a Petri dish culture of fungal hyphae assumes a position where it can respond to varying levels of light and other stimuli before transmitting signals to the organism’s legs or appendages, prompting movement.
Three types of robots were tested through three distinct experiments. Initially, the robots operated primarily in response to consistent, sudden surges in signals generated by the mycelia. In the second experiment, the researchers illuminated the fungus with ultraviolet light, prompting a transformation in its movement patterns. Ultimately, the staff demonstrated their ability to bypass the fungal indicator altogether when they chose to manually operate the robot.
While a single type of direct stimulation has been investigated so far, the team suggests that forthcoming adaptations might consider a range of factors, including unique chemical profiles. The concept is that bio-inspired residential techniques are inherently adept at responding to diverse inputs such as temperature, humidity, and stress, where artificial systems would require individual, specialized sensors for each.
According to Rob Shepherd, senior author of the study, “This research marks a significant milestone in leveraging the fungal kingdom’s capabilities to empower robots with enhanced environmental perception and autonomous decision-making.” The prospect of advanced robots lies in their ability to detect soil chemistry in row crops, enabling them to pinpoint optimal fertilization times, thereby potentially preventing issues such as hazardous algal blooms downstream.
The study’s findings were published in a reputable academic journal. . Watch the spider-like robot come to life in motion as you view the accompanying video below.
Fungus-controlled biohybrid robots
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