Plantoids: Robotics inspired by plants

March 2019: A new and emerging field of robotics is taking inspiration from plants to build flexible, sustainable, and biodegradable robots. Most prominently, artificial leaves could play a significant role in reducing greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

Information

Researchers have been taking inspiration from plants to build a new generation of robots. This includes robots that biodegrade, harvest energy from the sun, heal themselves, and consume carbon dioxide. Some of these robots are also fitted with 3-D printers to mimic the natural growth of plants. One of the more advanced areas within the field of plantoids are artificial leaves. Artificial leaves mimic photosynthesis and allow carbon dioxide to enter the leaf as water evaporates from the bottom of the leaf. An artificial photosystem consisting of light observers coated with catalysts then converts carbon dioxide to carbon monoxide and water to oxygen using sunlight. If the leaves are additionally fitted with sheets of silicone rubber, the leaves further produce electrical charges when touching.

Implications & opportunities

Robots inspired by plants could serve as alternative sources of energy. At the same time, plantoids fitted with sensors could analyse humidity, temperature, radioactivity and pollutants in soils or used to find water in dry environments, releasing beneficial substances into the environment. In particular, artificial leaves could absorb large quantities of carbon monoxide in their surrounding areas and offer an alternative basis for synthetic fuels.

Limitations

The development of plant inspired robots remains at a conceptual stage. Even artificial leaves have only been effective in laboratory environments with pressurised CO2 and require further development to become viable alternative solutions in robotics.

Sources

Prajapati, A., & Singh, M. R. (2019). Assessment of Artificial Photosynthetic Systems for Integrated Carbon Capture and Conversion. ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering. doi:10.1021/acssuschemeng.8b04969

The Wall Street Journal. (2019). Green power: The quest to harness energy from leaves. Retrieved from https://www.wsj.com/articles/green-power-the-quest-to-harness-energy-from-leaves-11551366000