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Proof-of-concept demonstrator of ratchet-like motion on leaf surfaces via MH structures embedded in a miniature robot (MH-based MiniBot) a MH-based MiniBot over a V. lambrusca leaf. Inset: the interlocking mechanism enabled by the MH printed on the feet of the light-driven, low-weight MiniBot. When the 808 nm laser hits the actuator, the actuator expands and the MHs on the back foot create friction with the leaf surface. At the same time, the hooks on the front foot slide off enabling the demonstrator to move forward, and blocking backward motion. During the laser-off phase, when the fluidic actuator cools down it shrinks. The MHs of the front foot then interlock and/or create sufficient friction to remain in the position obtained during expansion of the actuator, whereas the hooks on the back foot slide forwards, enabling on-leaf mobility of the robot. b Single frames at different timepoints showing the forward motion of MH-based MiniBot on the V. lambrusca leaf.
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New sustainable strategies for preserving plants are crucial for tackling environmental challenges. Bioinspired soft and miniature machines have the potential to operate in forests and agricultural fields by adapting their morphology to plant organs like leaves. However, applications on leaf surfaces are limited due to the fragility and heterogenei...
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... In that sense inundated marine oribatids may not permanently 'hang onto' their substrate at all (like chelae grasp food) but rather just do not get easily dragged along by the water movement, their tarsal 'hooks' catching on irregularities in an episodic manner as they are buffeted. Consideration of the design and theory of mechanical fasteners (Jeffries and Lentink 2020) and biomimetic hooked anchoring devices (Saunders 2015a, b, 2016, Fiorello et al 2021 may be of use here. Gorb et al (2002) gives a useful calculation of the displacement of a hook at the point of the force application as a function of the applied force (F). ...
Changes in the functional shape of astigmatan mite moveable digit profiles are examined to test if Tyrophagus putrescentiae (Acaridae) is a trophic intermediate between a typical micro-saprophagous carpoglyphid (Carpoglyphus lactis) and a common macro-saprophagous glycyphagid (Glycyphagus domesticus). Digit tip elongation in these mites is decoupled from the basic physics of optimising moveable digit inertia. Investment in the basal ramus/coronoid process compared to that for the moveable digit mastication length varies with feeding style. A differentiated ascending ramus is indicated in C. lactis and in T. putrescentiae for different trophic reasons. Culturing affects relative investments in C. lactis. A markedly different style of feeding is inferred for the carpoglyphid. The micro-saprophagous acarid does not have an intermediate pattern of trophic functional form between the other two species. Mastication surface shape complexity confirms the acarid to be heterodontous. T. putrescentiae is a particularly variably formed species trophically. A plausible evolutionary path for the gradation of forms is illustrated. Digit form and strengthening to resist bending under occlusive loads is explored in detail. Extensions to the analytical approach are suggested to confirm the decoupling of moveable digit pattern from cheliceral and chelal adaptations. Caution is expressed when interpreting ordinations of multidimensional data in mites.
... The hookclimber Galium aparine employs a unique parasitic ratchet-like anchoring mechanism to climb over host plants by using microscopic hooks that mechanically interlock onto leaves. Inspired by this, Fiorello et al. (2021) designed a type of micro-adhesive system for plants, in which microhooks were employed to orient the sensor to the surface of various plants. The microhook-based sensor system had multiple functions to realize special soft machine-leaf interactions, in situ monitoring of the leaf microenvironments of the plant vascular tissues, and the transfer of molecules. ...
... Thus, the first lightweight microdevice was composed of a single flexible PET sheet and a directly aligned microprinted hook system, as shown in Fig. 17a. For sensing, a cheap commercial digital capacitive humidity sensor and band gap temperature sensor (Fiorello et al. 2021) were integrated into the device and connected to a Bluetooth microcontroller through the 12 C communication channel. Customized software was used to wirelessly transmit the recorded data to a computer. ...
... Thus, after the directed shear-induced injection of the self-dissolving i@fluo-MHDs onto V. labrusca leaves, fluorescein-loaded isomaltose was used to examine the transport and flow process of small molecules through the vascular tissue. Figure 18e h show that the fluorescence intensity of the penetrating region of the hook decreased significantly over time, indicating that the absorption of isomalt@fluorescein had taken place, and that this (Fiorello et al. 2021) species had dissolved to release the fluorescence. The dissolved molecules were then transferred to the vascular tissue. ...
To reduce the crop losses associated with biotic and abiotic stresses, novel sensor technologies that can monitor plant health and predict and track plant diseases in real time are required. Plant sensors based on wearable technologies are placed directly on the plant leaf or stem. The health status of the plant is reflected by various biomarkers and microenvironmental parameters, which are converted into electric readouts by the sensors for convenient analysis. Herein, the latest research progress in the field of wearable plant sensors is evaluated, and the sensors are classified according to their individual functions. Moreover, the design principles and working mechanisms of previously reported wearable sensors are analyzed, and the design features adopted to overcome the difficulties associated with precision agriculture are explored. Finally, the challenges and future development prospects in this field are outlined. This review contributes to the growing body of literature on wearable plant sensors, underscoring their critical role in mitigating crop losses through real-time plant health monitoring and disease prediction. Advancements in wearable plant sensors could ultimately revolutionize crop production and sustainability by enabling more precise, efficient, and proactive farming practices.
... The development of new sustainable and smart tools capable to preserve the plant's health and reduce the consumption of natural resources is becoming more and more important. For this reason, there is an increasing interest in miniaturized technologies capable of precisely operating over plant organs for in situ monitoring applications [2], molecular delivery to plant vascular tissues [2,3] or energy harvesting [4]. Natural organisms can inspire scientists in the prototyping of disruptive bioinspired soft materials or robotic systems capable to work in complex unstructured real-world environments [5]. ...
... The development of new sustainable and smart tools capable to preserve the plant's health and reduce the consumption of natural resources is becoming more and more important. For this reason, there is an increasing interest in miniaturized technologies capable of precisely operating over plant organs for in situ monitoring applications [2], molecular delivery to plant vascular tissues [2,3] or energy harvesting [4]. Natural organisms can inspire scientists in the prototyping of disruptive bioinspired soft materials or robotic systems capable to work in complex unstructured real-world environments [5]. ...
... Among natural organisms, the hookclimber Galium aparine uses a unique parasitic ratchet-like attachment mechanism via microscopic hooks to strongly anchor its body over the surrounding host vegetation, especially to host leaves [6] (Fig. 1a, b). Here, we mimic the strong shear-dependent leaf attachment of the hook-climber Galium aparine to propose new patches with micropatterned hooks for targeted delivery of molecules to leaf tissues ( Fig. 1c) [2]. Firstly, we built artificial microhook-based patches using high-resolution micromanufacturing techniques in combination with molding and casting of biodegradable and dissolvable materials. ...
In the present work, we mimic the strong shear-dependent leaf attachment of the hook-climber Galium aparine to propose new patches with micropatterned hooks for targeted delivery of molecules in leaf tissues. We first built biodegradable and dissolvable isomalt-made micro-hooked patches using high-resolution micromanufacturing techniques including two-photon lithography. Secondly, we characterize the mechanical properties of plant leaves and the attachment forces of the micro-hooked patches to leaf surfaces. Lastly, we tested the micro-hooked patches for in situ release of fluorescein molecules in plant vascular tissues, producing biodegradable environmental-friendly machines. This research highlights the potential to use plant-like sustainable miniaturized machines to cure plants, reducing the use of pesticides and preserving natural ecosystems.
... Another study focused on the differences in wettability between the leaf surface, wing cells, and foot cells to develop a one-way valve for water conduction and absorption [133]. Other biomimetic examples are a microrobot system, suitable for manipulation in agriculture, based on the hooked trichomes of Galium aparine leaves [134] or reflective coatings that were claimed as being inspired by dense trichome covers [135]. ...
... Various protective functions (e.g., evaporation, herbivores, pathogens, irradiation, heat), water capture, water absorption, climbing, channeling of light, mechanical stabilization, unknown * Capillary water conduction, drag reduction, antifouling, insect control, fog harvesting, valve concepts, adhesion and climbing for robotics, light reflectance, light capture[123][124][125][126][127][128][129][130][131][132][133][134][135][136] ...
As organs of photosynthesis, leaves are of vital importance for plants and a source of inspiration for biomimetic developments. Leaves are composed of interconnected functional elements that evolved in concert under high selective pressure, directed toward strategies for improving productivity with limited resources. In this paper, selected basic components of the leaf are described together with biomimetic examples derived from them. The epidermis (the “skin” of leaves) protects the leaf from uncontrolled desiccation and carries functional surface structures such as wax crystals and hairs. The epidermis is pierced by micropore apparatuses, stomata, which allow for regulated gas exchange. Photosynthesis takes place in the internal leaf tissue, while the venation system supplies the leaf with water and nutrients and exports the products of photosynthesis. Identifying the selective forces as well as functional limitations of the single components requires understanding the leaf as an integrated system that was shaped by evolution to maximize carbon gain from limited resource availability. These economic aspects of leaf function manifest themselves as trade-off solutions. Biomimetics is expected to benefit from a more holistic perspective on adaptive strategies and functional contexts of leaf structures.
... Impressive advances have been made in recent years on miniature machines that are able to move and attach over the surrounding terrains by mimicking the biological features of plants [4] and animals [5,6]. These machines can work in confined and complex threedimensional (3D) surfaces with potential applications in different fields, including manipulation [7,8], environmental monitoring and inspection [9,10], targeted payload release to skin [11] or leaf tissues [12], space exploration [13,14] and minimally invasive surgery [15]. In particular, plants play an irreplaceable role in preserving the delicate equilibrium of ecosystems and their complex interactions [16]. ...
... a) The hook-climber Galium aparine can anchor over host vegetations using microscopic hooks for mechanical interlocking with surrounding leaves. b, c) Comparison between this work and our previous works (i.e. on wheel-based microhooked climbing machines for textiles and skin tissues [17]; or on microhooks-based light-driven walking machines [12]). ...
... more and more important to reduce the use of pesticides and optimize the use of natural resources [12,18]. Recent advancements in three-dimensional (3D) printing techniques offer many versatile solutions to create biomimetic 3D objects at small scale [19]. ...
... Consistently, adopting terrestrial and aerial robotic solutions, we could gather data for seed plantation toward reforestation against desertification to capture carbon dioxide, or to feed population and local economies, and to evaluate new pathogens and vector-borne diseases (SDG-3, 8, and 13) (Wade et al., 2018;Chowdhary et al., 2019;Zhou et al., 2022). C2C self-burial systems or climbing micro-soft robots could be adopted on crops to gather targeted genetic information and provide precise monitoring and surveillance of plants and soil (SDG-8, 12, and 15) (Fiorello et al., 2021;Horton et al., 2021;Mazzolai et al., 2021). Furthermore, C2C micro-robots can be released in water sources and infrastructures to detect pollutants and/or nutrients (SDG-6). ...
Soft robotics technology can aid in achieving United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Climate Agreement through development of autonomous, environmentally responsible machines powered by renewable energy. By utilizing soft robotics, we can mitigate the detrimental effects of climate change on human society and the natural world through fostering adaptation, restoration, and remediation. Moreover, the implementation of soft robotics can lead to groundbreaking discoveries in material science, biology, control systems, energy efficiency, and sustainable manufacturing processes. However, to achieve these goals, we need further improvements in understanding biological principles at the basis of embodied and physical intelligence, environment-friendly materials, and energy-saving strategies to design and manufacture self-piloting and field-ready soft robots. This paper provides insights on how soft robotics can address the pressing issue of environmental sustainability. Sustainable manufacturing of soft robots at a large scale, exploring the potential of biodegradable and bioinspired materials, and integrating onboard renewable energy sources to promote autonomy and intelligence are some of the urgent challenges of this field that we discuss in this paper. Specifically, we will present field-ready soft robots that address targeted productive applications in urban farming, healthcare, land and ocean preservation, disaster remediation, and clean and affordable energy, thus supporting some of the SDGs. By embracing soft robotics as a solution, we can concretely support economic growth and sustainable industry, drive solutions for environment protection and clean energy, and improve overall health and well-being.
... Consistently, adopting terrestrial and aerial robotic solutions, we could gather data for seed plantation toward reforestation against desertification to capture carbon dioxide, or to feed population and local economies, and to evaluate new pathogens and vector-borne diseases (SDG-3, 8, and 13) (Wade et al., 2018;Chowdhary et al., 2019;Zhou et al., 2022). C2C self-burial systems or climbing micro-soft robots could be adopted on crops to gather targeted genetic information and provide precise monitoring and surveillance of plants and soil (SDG-8, 12, and 15) (Fiorello et al., 2021;Horton et al., 2021;Mazzolai et al., 2021). Furthermore, C2C micro-robots can be released in water sources and infrastructures to detect pollutants and/or nutrients (SDG-6). ...
Soft robotics technology can aid in achieving United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Climate Agreement through development of autonomous, environmentally responsible machines powered by renewable energy. By utilizing soft robotics, we can mitigate the detrimental effects of climate change on human society and the natural world through fostering adaptation, restoration, and remediation. Moreover, the implementation of soft robotics can lead to groundbreaking discoveries in material science, biology, control systems, energy efficiency, and sustainable manufacturing processes. However, to achieve these goals, we need further improvements in understanding biological principles at the basis of embodied and physical intelligence, environment-friendly materials, and energy-saving strategies to design and manufacture self-piloting and field-ready soft robots. This paper provides insights on how soft robotics can address the pressing issue of environmental sustainability. Sustainable manufacturing of soft robots at a large scale, exploring the potential of biodegradable and bioinspired materials, and integrating onboard renewable energy sources to promote autonomy and intelligence are some of the urgent challenges of this field that we discuss in this paper. Specifically, we will present field-ready soft robots that address targeted productive applications in urban farming, healthcare, land and ocean preservation, disaster remediation, and clean and affordable energy, thus supporting some of the SDGs. By embracing soft robotics as a solution, we can concretely support economic growth and sustainable industry, drive solutions for environment protection and clean energy, and improve overall health and well-being.
... Temperature and moisture (Biswas et al., 2018) Organic matter and mineral fractions (Biswas et al., 2018) Microbial activities (Biswas et al., 2018); microbiota (Walder et al., 2022); AM fungi (Edlinger et al., 2022) demonstrated that RNAs and miRNAs can be used as marker genes to monitor the onset and transmission of (a)biotic stresses (Loṕez-Galiano et al., 2019;Tyagi et al., 2021;Sěcǐćet al., 2021;Zhang et al., 2022;Paes de Melo et al., 2022) species-specific large-scale microarrays which cluster all the (a)biotic stress markers genes available in shoot could be envisaged. Additionally, plant-like miniature adhesive systems for in situ leaf microenvironment monitoring have been recently developed (Fiorello et al., 2021;Coatsworth et al., 2022). The development of plant-inspired miniature machines coupled by sensors to detect in real-time macro-and micronutrients in plant leaves would be instrumental to infer soil nutrient availability and open avenues for their application in precision agrotechnology systems. ...
The soil is vital for life on Earth and its biodiversity. However, being a non-renewable and threatened resource, preserving soil quality is crucial to maintain a range of ecosystem services critical to ecological balances, food production and human health. In an agricultural context, soil quality is often perceived as the ability to support field production, and thus soil quality and fertility are strictly interconnected. The concept of, as well as the ways to assess, soil fertility has undergone big changes over the years. Crop performance has been historically used as an indicator for soil quality and fertility. Then, analysis of a range of physico-chemical parameters has been used to routinely assess soil quality. Today it is becoming evident that soil quality must be evaluated by combining parameters that refer both to the physico-chemical and the biological levels. However, it can be challenging to find adequate indexes for evaluating soil quality that are both predictive and easy to measure in situ. An ideal soil quality assessment method should be flexible, sensitive enough to detect changes in soil functions, management and climate, and should allow comparability among sites. In this review, we discuss the current status of soil quality indicators and existing databases of harmonized, open-access topsoil data. We also explore the connections between soil biotic and abiotic features and crop performance in an agricultural context. Finally, based on current knowledge and technical advancements, we argue that the use of plant health traits represents a powerful way to assess soil physico-chemical and biological properties. These plant health parameters can serve as proxies for different soil features that characterize soil quality both at the physico-chemical and at the microbiological level, including soil quality, fertility and composition of soil microbial communities.
... CC BY 4.0). (E) Micro-sized hooks of climber Galium aparine inspired a miniature anchoring system for attaching sensors to leaves and for the delivery of molecules (Reproduced from [32]. CC BY 4.0). ...
... Actuation and autonomous materials have already been mentioned in sections 5 and 6 and are crucial. Another of various examples for a multifunctional passive structure derived from plants are microscale attachment systems based on hooks and spines [32,[101][102][103][104] as stated in section 3. However, they are interesting not only as reversible interlocking and attachment solution in a technical scenario. ...
... However, they are interesting not only as reversible interlocking and attachment solution in a technical scenario. The mechanically extremely stable tips of the micronsized hooks can also be used to deliver molecules into tissue, attach sensors to leaves, (as shown before in figure 2(d)) and enable climbing of vehicles [32]. ...
As miscellaneous as the Plant Kingdom is, correspondingly diverse are the opportunities for taking inspiration from plants for innovations in science and engineering. Especially in robotics, properties like growth, adaptation to environments, ingenious materials, sustainability, and energy-effectiveness of plants provide an extremely rich source of inspiration to develop new technologies - and many of them are still in the beginning of being discovered. In the last decade, researchers have begun to reproduce complex plant functions leading to functionality that goes far beyond conventional robotics and this includes sustainability, resource saving, and eco-friendliness. This perspective drawn by specialists in different related disciplines provides a snapshot from the last decade of research in the field and draws conclusions on the current challenges, unanswered questions on plant functions, plant-inspired robots, bioinspired materials, and plant-hybrid systems looking ahead to the future of these research fields.
... Such devices are either permanently or transiently fixed on a plant leaf where they perform a specific task and have a potential impact on monitoring and preserving plants and ecosystems. Examples are sensors that measure plant parameters (Khan et al., 2018;Jiang et al., 2020;Diacci et al., 2021;Fiorello et al., 2021;Dufil et al., 2022); molecule delivery platforms (Fiorello et al., 2021); robots and drones that could use a plant or a leaf as support (Graule et al., 2016;Fiorello et al., 2021;Jiaming et al., 2021), and, moreover, energy harvesting artificial leaves (Jie et al., 2018;Meder et al., 2018;Meder et al., 2020a;Wu et al., 2020;Meder et al., 2021;Meder et al., 2022). The latter have recently been shown to be capable of converting wind into electrical energy: the artificial leaves installed on plant leaves exploit the wind-induced leaf oscillations and fluttering for a mechanical-to-electrical energy conversion (Meder et al., 2020a;Meder et al., 2021). ...
... Such devices are either permanently or transiently fixed on a plant leaf where they perform a specific task and have a potential impact on monitoring and preserving plants and ecosystems. Examples are sensors that measure plant parameters (Khan et al., 2018;Jiang et al., 2020;Diacci et al., 2021;Fiorello et al., 2021;Dufil et al., 2022); molecule delivery platforms (Fiorello et al., 2021); robots and drones that could use a plant or a leaf as support (Graule et al., 2016;Fiorello et al., 2021;Jiaming et al., 2021), and, moreover, energy harvesting artificial leaves (Jie et al., 2018;Meder et al., 2018;Meder et al., 2020a;Wu et al., 2020;Meder et al., 2021;Meder et al., 2022). The latter have recently been shown to be capable of converting wind into electrical energy: the artificial leaves installed on plant leaves exploit the wind-induced leaf oscillations and fluttering for a mechanical-to-electrical energy conversion (Meder et al., 2020a;Meder et al., 2021). ...
... Such devices are either permanently or transiently fixed on a plant leaf where they perform a specific task and have a potential impact on monitoring and preserving plants and ecosystems. Examples are sensors that measure plant parameters (Khan et al., 2018;Jiang et al., 2020;Diacci et al., 2021;Fiorello et al., 2021;Dufil et al., 2022); molecule delivery platforms (Fiorello et al., 2021); robots and drones that could use a plant or a leaf as support (Graule et al., 2016;Fiorello et al., 2021;Jiaming et al., 2021), and, moreover, energy harvesting artificial leaves (Jie et al., 2018;Meder et al., 2018;Meder et al., 2020a;Wu et al., 2020;Meder et al., 2021;Meder et al., 2022). The latter have recently been shown to be capable of converting wind into electrical energy: the artificial leaves installed on plant leaves exploit the wind-induced leaf oscillations and fluttering for a mechanical-to-electrical energy conversion (Meder et al., 2020a;Meder et al., 2021). ...
High-tech sensors, energy harvesters, and robots are increasingly being developed for operation on plant leaves. This introduces an extra load which the leaf must withstand, often under further dynamic forces like wind. Here, we took the example of mechanical energy harvesters that consist of flat artificial “leaves” fixed on the petioles of N. oleander, converting wind energy into electricity. We developed a combined experimental and computational approach to describe the static and dynamic mechanics of the natural and artificial leaves individually and join them together in the typical energy harvesting configuration. The model, in which the leaves are torsional springs with flexible petioles and rigid lamina deforming under the effect of gravity and wind, enables us to design the artificial device in terms of weight, flexibility, and dimensions based on the mechanical properties of the plant leaf. Moreover, it predicts the dynamic motions of the leaf–artificial leaf combination, causing the mechanical-to-electrical energy conversion at a given wind speed. The computational results were validated in dynamic experiments measuring the electrical output of the plant-hybrid energy harvester. Our approach enables us to design the artificial structure for damage-safe operation on leaves (avoiding overloading caused by the interaction between leaves and/or by the wind) and suggests how to improve the combined leaf oscillations affecting the energy harvesting performance. We furthermore discuss how the mathematical model could be extended in future works. In summary, this is a first approach to improve the adaptation of artificial devices to plants, advance their performance, and to counteract damage by mathematical modelling in the device design phase.
