Mushrooms Used To Create Biohybrid Robots Of The Future

And before anyone gets any wild ideas, no, the scientists haven’t created a robot that could teleport in a true Terminator style. Instead, they use a fungus to generate electrical signals and control the robot as a response to a particular problem that has previously plagued biohybrid machines—in other words, mushroom robots.

These new robots are theorized to be more versatile and robust, especially compared to previous failed attempts to create biohybrid machines.

Despite the inherent superiority of the machine compared to biological matter, fully mechanical robots aren’t really as efficient, durable, or capable as animals are, simply because of the inherent flaws in their design, and the limitations of the current mechanical technologies.

Before the mushroom robots, past experiments in biohybrid technologies relied on lab-grown frog muscles used to build swimming roots or earthworm tissue to form micropump membranes.

However, these iterations were cultured from animal cells and required sterile and precise conditions with a steady infusion of antibiotics that would maintain the tissue in good health.

This presented a problem; the tissue, feeble as it was, additionally required plenty of work, leading scientists on a path towards a different solution. And that solution came in the form of fungi, which are easily cultivated and able to survive even in the most extreme of conditions. Thus, the first mushroom robot was made.

The researchers made a 3D scaffold, which was used to grow and shape the mycelia structure of king oyster mushrooms. Inside the scaffold were electrodes that fused with the mycelium, allowing the fungi to transfer the electrical signals it generated onto its surroundings.

Those surroundings were made into a five-legged starfish-shaped robot, and once the mycelia were exposed to ultraviolet light, the electrical signal it generated would successfully control the robot’s legs—in this case, it made the robot stand up straight.

In an attempt to replicate their results, the researchers hooked up the mushroom to a differently configured robot—this one had wheels instead of legs. Once again, when exposed to UV light, the mushroom robot started rolling.

The experiment was a massive success, but the scientists behind it still have several main issues to address. For example, despite their resilience, the fungi die over time, which leads to electrical signal degradation unless the scientists come up with a way to regenerate the fungi while inside the mushroom robot.

If you thought that Cordyceps from The Last of Us was scary, imagine if it gained the ability to fuse with our current technology. We wouldn’t have to wait for any of the currently present AI models to go haywire and rename itself to Skynet. We’d instead have an army of killer mushroom robots—a new fear has been unlocked.

Source: Science