In creating a pair of new robots, researchers cultivated an unlikely component, one found on the forest floor: fungal mycelia. By harnessing mycelia's innate electrical signals, the researchers discovered a new way of controlling 'biohybrid' robots that can potentially react to their environment better than their purely synthetic counterparts.
In creating a pair of new robots, researchers cultivated an unlikely component, one found on the forest floor: fungal mycelia. By harnessing mycelia's innate electrical signals, the researchers discovered a new way of controlling 'biohybrid' robots that can potentially react to their environment better than their purely synthetic counterparts.
Mycelia are the underground vegetative part of mushrooms. They have the ability to sense chemical and biological signals and respond to multiple inputs. The research was supported by the National Science Foundation CROPPS Science and Technology Center; the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture; and the NSF Signal in Soil program.
Most animals can quickly transition from walking to jumping to crawling to swimming if needed without reconfiguring or making major adjustments. Most robots cannot. But researchers have now created ...
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