Robo plants: Merging nature with tech

As crops face increasing threats from climate change, scientists are seeking out ways in which technology can be useful in communicating with vegetation. They have developed new technology that can help farmers by informing them when crops are hit by disease. Catching the disease in early stages before full-blown symptoms appear in the crops would be incredibly valuable. 

How this tech works? 
All greenery naturally emits weak electrical impulses. Researchers in Singapore have attached electrodes to plants that can monitor these impulses and used this technology to trigger a Venus flytrap to snap its jaws shut at the push of a button on a smartphone app. Then, a robotic arm was attached to one of its jaws so that the contraption could pick up a piece of wire half a millimetre in thickness, and catch a falling object. 

Chen Xiaodong, the lead author of a study on the research at Nanyang Technological University (NTU), has been quoted by AFP saying, "These kinds of nature robots can be interfaced with other artificial robots (to make) hybrid systems." 

It is still a challenge to reopen the jaws of the flytrap at will, a process that takes up to 10 or more hours to occur naturally. 

"By monitoring the plants' electrical signals, we may be able to detect possible distress signals and abnormalities," Chen added. 

The knowledge of the electrical signals emitted by plants has been available for a while but the uneven waxy surfaces posed a problem in mounting sensors. Chen’s team developed film-like soft electrodes that stick to the plant’s surface using a “thermogel”, and have a higher degree of accuracy. Thermogel is a substance which is liquid at low temperatures but turns into a gel at room temperature. The technology, however, is still in its early stages. 

Previous research 
In 2016, a research team at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) turned spinach leaves into sensors that send an email alert to scientists upon detection of explosive materials in groundwater. This was achieved by embedding carbon nanotubes that emit a signal when plant roots detect nitroaromatics, which are compounds often found in explosives. The signal is then read by an infrared camera that sends out a message to the scientists. 

(With inputs from agencies)