Robots that grow like plants

Morphogenesis, remodeling, and growth are three processes at the base of generation and evolution of all living beings. These natural abilities to adapt body shapes and material properties to external conditions have captured the interest of scientists and engineers since long. With the relatively new approach of soft robotics, morphological adaptation in robots is reached by exploiting properties of soft materials and actuators taking inspiration from natural systems. In this context, growth is a very interesting feature of living beings that can inspire a generation of robots with new and unpredictable abilities of movement. Noteworthy, plants represent an alternative model of movement in robotics, which is not animal-like and muscle-based. Plants’ movement is mostly a consequence of an indeterminate growth, which occurs for their entire life. For the first time in robotics, we proposed a growing robot inspired by movements and behaviors of plant roots, able to create its own structure exploiting a 3D printer-like system integrated into its tip and depositing a thermoplastic material. Taking inspiration from plants, we can generate new, unexplored abilities in robotics, which can better adapt to external, unstructured environments, move purposively, effectively and efficiently.