This is the mushroom robot brain

This is the mushroom robot brain

Written by Saima S. Iqbal

The network of fungi hidden beneath the fleshy white kingfish creates more than just an elegant appetizer. It also acts as a sharp robot sensor, useful for steering wheeled robots and fluffy star-shaped hopping robots.

The root-like hyphae of oyster mushrooms generate voltage spikes when exposed to ultraviolet light. In the experiment of science roboticsThe researchers used this process to direct fungal vines grown in Petri dishes to power the robot’s motors via attached electrodes.

These bots join a family of machines known as biohybrids. Success stories so far range from silicon-based jellyfish that use heart cells to propel themselves through water to bipedal robots powered by lab-built skeletal muscle. Most of these efforts use animal tissue instead of mechanical motors. Rashid Bashir, a biohybrid researcher at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign who was not involved in the study, said the new research taps into the superpowers of fundamentally different organisms. , says engineers’ toolboxes are expanding.

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Fungi are cheap to maintain and are better able to detect not only light but also subtle changes in nutrients and gases such as carbon dioxide and ammonia, said Robert F. Shepherd, senior author of the study and an engineer at Cornell University. It is said that there is A shepherd dreams of using fungi-powered robots in agriculture. For example, machines that harvest ripe fruit or add nitrogen to dry soil. His team started with optical sensing for simpler proof-of-concept experiments.

Translating signals into motion for rotating and starfish robots presented unique challenges. Beyond their electrical response to light, fungi generate a baseline electrical current when digesting sugars. In this study, lead author Anand Kumar Mishra, also from Cornell University, experimented with both minimizing and leveraging this extra information. In the latter case, the robot responded to all signals, but moved faster in response to signals prompted by larger UV rays. Mishra imagines the model could be useful for robots that need to stop, slow down, or change direction in response to nitrogen shortages in agricultural fields.

In future research, Shepard and Mishra would like to grow fungi all over the robot, allowing the device to sense light and chemicals from all directions. If wired in a particular way, the robot can also respond locally to these stimuli. For example, a fungi-controlled fruit picker can extend multiple arms to different ripe peach locations. Scientists will also investigate the lifespan of the fungal vines.

For now, Shepard and Mishra are just happy that their proof-of-concept experiment was a success. “I had no idea where to start,” Mishra explains. “Because these robots were the first of their kind.” It took the team three years to design something that would respond to ultraviolet light and surprise. When Shepard saw the mechanical starfish running around the table for the first time, he realized that it was alive.