Venus Flytrap Robo-Plants Enables Farmers to Determine Problems With Crops at Early Stage

Recent research has shown that remote-controlled Venus flytrap 'Robo-plants' and crops that alert farmers when they are struck by disease could become a reality after scientists developed a high-tech system for interacting with vegetation.

A Phys.org result said that scientists in Singapore linked up plants to electrodes that have the capability to monitor the weak electrical pulses naturally released by the greenery.

The researchers applied the technology to stimulate a Venus flytrap to snap its jaws closed at the push of a single button via a smartphone app.

They then attached one of its jaws to a robotic arm and got the mechanism to pick up a single piece of wire half-a-millimeter thick and capture a tiny falling object.

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Eyeing for Advanced Plant-Based Robots

This latest technology is said to be in its early stages although scientists believed it could eventually be used to develop advanced 'plant-based' robots that can pick up a collection of fragile objects which are very delicate for unbending robotic arms.

According to the lead author of the study on this research at the National Technological University or NTU, Chen Xiaodong, these kinds of nature robots can be interfaced along with other artificial robots to produce hybrid systems.

The lead author also explained that there are still challenges that need to be met or overcome. Researchers can trigger the jaws of the flytrap to slam closed although cannot yet reopen them. This, as indicated in the research, is a process that's taking 10 or more hours to take place naturally.

Crop Protection

The system can pick up signals released by plants as well, increasing the possibility that farmers will be able to determine problems with their crops at an early stage.

Chen explained that by observing the electrical signals of plants, scientists might be able to identify possible distress signals, not to mention abnormalities.

In addition, the study lead author said, farmers may discover or identify when a disease is in progress, even prior to the appearance of the crops of full-blown symptoms.

Scientists believe that this technology could be specifically helpful as crops are facing rising threats from climate change.

Use of 'Thermogel'

Researchers have long known that plants produce extremely weak electrical signals although their uneven and waxy surfaces are making it difficult to efficiently mount sensors.

The NTU scientists developed soft, film-like electrodes that tightly fit the surface of the plant, and can more accurately detect signals.

The said electrodes are attached through the use of a 'thermogel,' which, as described in a similar report by the Phnom Penh Post, is in liquid form and at low temperatures. However, it turns into a gel form at room temperature. Researchers of this work are the latest to conduct a study that communicates with plants.

Incidentally, in 2016, a team from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology turned spinach leaves into sensors that can send an alert via email to scientists when they detect explosive objects in groundwater.

The research team embedded carbon nanotubes that produce a signal when plant rots detect compounds called nitroaromatics, which, as described by the United States Environmental Protection Agency, are frequently present in explosives.

That specific signal is then read by an infrared camera that, in turn, sends out a message to the researchers.

A similar news report is shown on AFP News Agency's YouTube video below: