Flora Robotica is a research project initiated by a group of European scientists investigating the intersection of hard and wet artificial life. Their research revolves around symbiotic relationships between plants and robots to assemble buildings and structures. For these formations, the plants are the building materials and the robots assist in maintaining the plant homeostasis, serve as scaffolding, and direct the plants to form the desired shape . The benefits of using plants as building materials are that they are cost-effective (since the formation is derived from plant growth) and the product is both beneficial for the environment and aesthetically pleasing .
The system has the ability to self-assemble a predetermined shape where the robots collect information and direct the plant to form the configuration. To form these structures, the robots have to be able to control plant growth. The research group explored several ways to lead the plants in a particular direction including using gravity or the gradient in water concentration, however one of the most effective methods was employing the robots as scaffolding and using lights to direct the plant growth since many plants grow towards light .
This system consists of interconnected rods and nodes. The rods consist of a framework made of wood or plastic, an electronic board, and a way to collect energy (often times solar) that drives the electronics . The nodes are used to join the rods through a press-fit apparatus, as shown in Figure 3. The press-fit apparatus is a way to connect pieces using friction and a normal force. A flex sensor is used to measure the curve of the rods to determine how much reinforcement the rods are providing . There are environmental sensors to evaluate the temperature, touch sensors to pick up data from climbing plants, and infrared sensors and integrated ambient light sensors that work together to detect the proximity of neighboring leaves . All of these sensors collect data that is used to update the firmware. There are RGB LEDs, included in the rods, to indicate to the human controller when and where to add rods and nodes . Additionally, there is a high-powered computer at the base to cover the overall management and debugging of the system .
In the future, Flora Robotica plans to explore adaptive growth structures where a limited amount of instructions are given and the robots receive data that influence the construction of the building . The system will be self-organizing and autonomous. The robots determine when and where to trigger the start of the growth and the architectural design necessary for each individual space depending on environmental factors in conjunction with various other behavioral sensors from the users . The research group hopes to use adaptive growth structures not only to create flora robotica public areas, but also living spaces suited for the inhabitants.
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