Hardware Podcasts

Episode 102: Soft robots inspired by plants - Isabella Fiorello

Robot Talk · 13 Dec 2024 · 23m · Episode 102

What this episode covers

Isabella Fiorello, a Junior Group Leader at the University of Freiburg, explains her work on biohybrid soft robots that embed plant tissues, such as Avena sterilis awns, into synthetic materials to create autonomous, biodegradable actuators. She details how these plant-inspired mechanisms enable robots to move through soil for precision agriculture applications, like targeted fertilizer delivery, and discusses potential uses in space exploration for terraforming. Fiorello also describes her PhD-era work on micro-hooks inspired by Gallumaparina leaves, which allow reversible attachment to various surfaces including plant tissue for targeted molecule delivery.

Most relevant to

early-stage companies

Topics

Mentioned

Companies
University of Freiburg, California Institute of Technology
Also
Avena sterilis, Gallumaparina, National Geographic

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