Cornell University researchers used mushroom mycelia to power a pair of proof-of-concept robots. Mycelium, an underground network of fungi that can germinate like an above-ground fruit, can sense light and chemical reactions and communicate via electrical signals. This makes it a new component in hybrid robotics that may someday detect crop conditions that are invisible to humans.
Cornell researchers was created two robots: a soft, spider-like robot and a four-wheeled cart. Researchers have used mycelia’s light-sensing abilities to control machines using ultraviolet light. The project required experts in mycology (the study of fungi), neurobiology, mechanical engineering, electronics and signal processing.
“If you think about a synthetic system—say, any passive sensor—we’re just using it for one purpose,” said lead author Anand Mishra. “But living systems respond to touch, light, heat, and even some unknowns, such as signals. So we think, well, if you want to build the robots of the future, how can they work in an unpredictable environment? We can use these live systems and if any unknown input comes in, the robot will respond to it.”
The mushroom robot uses an electrical interface that records and processes the electrophysical activity of the mycelium in real time (after blocking the interference of vibration and electromagnetic signals). Impersonating supervisor a part of the central nervous systems of animals played the role of “a kind of neural circuit”. The team designed the controller to read the mushrooms’ raw electrical signal, process it and convert it into digital controls. These were then sent to the car’s transmissions.
A pair of shroom-bots successfully completed three experiments, including walking and rolling in response to signals from the mycelia and changing their gait in response to UV light. The researchers also successfully overrode the mycelium’s signals to manually control the robots, an essential component if later versions are to be deployed in the wild.
As for where this technology is headed, it could create more advanced versions that tap into mycelium’s ability to sense chemical reactions. “In this case we used light as an input, but in the future it will be chemical,” said Rob Shepherd, Cornell professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering and lead author of the paper. The researchers believe this could lead to future robots that sense soil chemistry in plants to decide when to add more fertilizer, “perhaps reducing downstream impacts of agriculture like harmful algal blooms,” Shepherd said.
You can read the posts of the team research paper hour Science Robotics and learn more about the project Cornell Chronicle.
