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A groundbreaking advancement in robotics sees the creation of biohybrid machines controlled by living fungi. Engineers have developed a novel robot that harnesses the natural electrical signals from an edible king trumpet mushroom to govern its movement and environmental sensing capabilities.
This innovative biohybrid robot, a collaborative effort from an interdisciplinary team at Cornell University in the US and Florence University in Italy, is poised to usher in a new era of living robotics. Unlike traditional machines, these robots leverage the inherent responsiveness of biological systems.
“Living systems respond to touch, they respond to light, they respond to heat, they respond to even some unknowns, like signals,” explains Anand Mishra, a research associate in the Organic Robotics Lab at Cornell. He adds that this unique characteristic is vital for future robots operating in unpredictable environments, allowing them to adapt to unforeseen inputs.
The researchers observed that varying environmental inputs, such as exposure to ultraviolet light, elicited different responses in the robot’s locomotion. Videos demonstrate these mushroom-controlled machines moving deliberately across surfaces, one using a rhythmic pumping motion of its robotic legs, and another employing a wheeled system for mobility.
The fusion of robotic mobility with the fungi’s innate ability to sense chemical and biological signals presents a vast array of potential applications. Rob Shepherd, a professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at Cornell, highlights the practical utility: “By growing mycelium into the electronics of a robot, we were able to allow the biohybrid machine to sense and respond to the environment.” He envisions these robots could, for instance, monitor soil chemistry in agriculture to optimize fertilizer application, potentially mitigating issues like harmful algal blooms.
Details of this pioneering biohybrid robot were unveiled in the prestigious journal Science Robotics, in a study titled ‘Sensorimotor control of robots mediated by electro-physiological measurements of fungal mycelia’. While the integration of living organisms into robotic bodies is not entirely new—previous experiments include an artificial worm brain in a Lego robot and MIT’s machines with living muscle tissue—the utilization of mushrooms marks a significant breakthrough. Fungi offer a distinct advantage due to their resilience, ability to grow, and survival capabilities even in challenging conditions, making them ideal candidates for the next generation of autonomous and adaptable robotic systems.