Scientists are using mushrooms to build robots that better respond to changes in their environment.
Researchers from Cornell University, in the United States, have harnessed the electrical signals in fungal mycelia and discovered a new way of controlling “biohybrid” robots that could potentially react to their environment better than their synthetic counterparts.
Professor Rob Shepherd said the team grew mycelium into the electronics of a robot which allowed the biohybrid machine to sense and respond to the environment.
“In this case we used light as the input, but in the future it will be chemical,” Professor Shepherd said.
He said in designing the robots of tomorrow, engineers had taken many of their cues from the animal kingdom, with machines that mimic the way living creatures moved, sensed their environment and even regulated their internal temperature through perspiration.
“Some robots have incorporated living material, such as cells from muscle tissue, but those complex biological systems are difficult to keep healthy and functional. It’s not always easy, after all, to keep a robot alive.”
Study lead author Anand Mishra said mycelia were the underground vegetative part of mushrooms and had a number of advantages.
“They can grow in harsh conditions. They also have the ability to sense chemical and biological signals and respond to multiple inputs,” Mr Mishra said.
“If you think about a synthetic system, such as any passive sensor, we just use it for one purpose. But living systems respond to touch, they respond to light, they respond to heat, they respond to even some unknowns, like signals.
“That’s why we think, if you wanted to build future robots, how can they work in an unexpected environment? We can leverage these living systems, and any unknown input comes in, the robot will respond to that.”
He said finding a way to integrate mushrooms and robots required more than just tech savvy and a green thumb.
“You have to have a background in mechanical engineering, electronics, some mycology, some neurobiology, some kind of signal processing.”
