Emerging Technologies Inspired by Plants

Abstract

Soil is a vital resource for living organisms and provides energy and precious elements for mankind. How do plants address and manage a large amount of information (which is primarily obtained from the soil) to survive extreme conditions? How can roots avoid danger if they cannot move quickly within the soil? Additionally, can science and technology take advantage of strategies to penetrate and explore soil as well as to maintain good performance in terms of energy efficiency? Biomimetics is considered as an approach to study plants and to demonstrate the improvements in technological development that can result from imitating the natural characteristics of plants. After describing some of the main characteristics of plants, specifically their roots, we focus on natural strategies that plant roots use to penetrate soil. Additionally, we describe how the elongation of the root tip apex can be studied from an engineering perspective and provide insight into the pressure required for the root to move forward. In the second part of this study, we propose robotic plant root-like systems called PLANTOIDS that mimic root behavior and include distributed sensing, actuation, and intelligence for tasks such as environmental exploration and monitoring. In the final part of this study, we address bioinspiration from the motion of a plant and its materials. The active mechanism in plant movements is reviewed, and, specifically, an analytical approach to a bioinspired osmotic system is described. Finally, passive natural mechanisms and available technological actuation mechanisms are reviewed.