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A plantoid is a robotic machine that is inspired by and imitates the functions of biological plants. They fall under the category of soft robotics, which is a growing area of robotics which involves using malleable materials and are inspired by the functions of various living organisms. Unlike conventional rigid robots, plantoids and other soft robots have the advantage of increased flexibility and greater sensory-motor efficiency.

Plantoids are used primarily in agricultural and environmental fields and placed on site in various environmental locations. Some applications of plantoids in these fields include being able to explore environments, utilize artificial growth, and collect information on air and soil, which can be done through the use of synthetic root systems of plantoids. However, usage of plantoids is not very common in present day.

Inspiration

Inspiration for the plantoid can be traced back to Hans Moravec's ideas of creating a robotic system of micro leaves in a stemmed, bush-like design. However, biologically inspired robotics was a field that had many technological limitations at the time, which meant that many ideas were not turned to experiment. In recent years, as technology advanced, bioinspired robotics have influenced the medical field, art projects, and even toys that mimic plants and living organisms.

More specifically, plantoids focus on the biological way that plants adapt to environmental changes through its root system. A plant's roots are efficient in taking up water, proper nutrients, and are essential in its' growth process. Plantoids draw from these natural processes and implement these adaptational functions in its' technology.

Biological Influence

In nature, a plant's root system is efficient in moving towards minerals and water by adapting to abiotic and biotic factors in its soil environment. It's roots penetrate the soil using many root apices, which can sense ions, touch, humidity, etc. These sensory capabilities help plants respond to changes in addition to developing growth patterns.

Plantoids aim to mimic the adaptive qualities of biological plants. A basic but significant quality is the way that biological plant roots have tropisms, where there is movement in a specific direction based on whether the perceived stimuli from a root apex is beneficial to the organism or not. When a stimulus is beneficial, i.e. an area of soil which is high in minerals, the root will grow in that direction. If the stimulus is disadvantageous to the system, i.e. competing roots, then the roots will grow in the opposite direction.

Scientists implement this process in plantoid robots for sensing environmental stimuli in the same way that biological plants do in addition to evaluating and responding these stimuli. However, instead of using tropisms in order to survive, plantoids use this process in order to find problems in soil systems and resolve them with as little interference as possible.

Design

The goal of using plantoids on site is to understand the chemical and physical properties of the environment it is placed in, both under and above ground.

When a plantoid is placed in an environment, its sensors are distributed through its roots that penetrate the soil, and receive information which is then transmitted wirelessly to a main infrastructure. The data can then be analyzed and any necessary actions, such as a response to dangerously dry soil, will be carried out based on what is sent to the main infrastructure through the use of an embedded microcontroller.

Functions

The plantoid has many functions in the fields of agriculture and environmental conservation, specifically in soil research and exploration. In these fields specifically, soft robotics serve to interact with the environment by transferring materials, monitoring the environment, collecting necessary information, etc. A plantoid not only explores the environment it is placed in, but is able to adapt to the underground area using its bioinspired root system. In addition, plantoids use soft tactile sensors which are highly sensitive sensors that detect change in the soil and are made from a soft and flexible material.

Current Applications

The use of plantoids and its sensors in an agricultural field has many possible applications. An on site plantoid can measure soil moisture, differential above and underground temperatures, and stem diameter. This data is easily obtained with plantoids with very minimal interaction with the biological environment, less human error, and the higher accuracy when combating problems when compared to not installing a plantoid.

Future Applications

Implementing the use of plantoids in space exploration is an example of the future for soft robotics. The idea is that plantoids will grow their root systems into the ground of other moons and/or planets and examine the physical and chemical properties of the air and soil of the site. Obtaining such data on other planets would contribute greatly to space exploration efforts.