By KIM BELLARD
I wasn’t expecting to write about a biology-related topic so soon after doing so last week, but, my goodness, then I saw a press release from Cornell about a biohybrid robot – powered by mushrooms (aka mushrooms)! They have me in “biohybrid.”
The release talks about a new paper – Sensorimotor Control of Robots Mediated by Electrophysiological Measurements of Fungal Mycelia – from the Cornell Organic Robotics Lab, led by Professor Rob Shepherd. As the release describes the work:
By using mycelia’s innate electrical signals, researchers have discovered a new way to control “biohybrid” robots that could potentially respond to their environment better than their synthetic counterparts.
Or, in the researcher’s own words:
The paper highlights two major innovations: first, a mycelium electrical interface shielded from vibration and electromagnetic interference that allows stable and long-term electrophysiological bioelectrical recording during wireless cellular operation; second, a control architecture for a robot inspired by a neural central pattern generator, combining positive and negative spike rhythm patterns of living mycelia.
Let’s put it simply: “This paper is the first of many that will use the mushroom kingdom to provide environmental signals and command signals to robots to increase their level of autonomy,” says Professor Shepherd. “By growing mycelium into robotic electronics, we can enable biohybrid machines to perceive and respond to their environment.”
Lead author Anand Mishra, a research associate at the laboratory, explained: “If you think about synthetic systems – for example, any passive sensor – it is only used for one purpose. But living systems respond to touch, respond to light, respond to heat, respond to even some that are not unknown, like a signal. That’s why we thought, OK, if you want to make a robot of the future, how can we work in an unexpected environment? We can use this living system, and there is an unknown input, the robot will respond.
The team created two robots: a soft one like a spider, and a wheeled one. The researchers first used the natural spikes in the mycelia to make them walk and spin, using the natural signals from the mycelia. Then the researchers were exposed to ultraviolet light, which caused the mycelia to react and change the robot’s gaits. Finally, the researchers were able to address the entire mycelia signal.
“This kind of project is not just about controlling robots,” said Dr. Mishra. “It’s also about making the right connection with the living system. Because if you hear the signal, you also know what’s going on. Maybe the signal is coming from some stress. So you see a physical response, because the signal is unimaginable, but the robot create a visualization.
Dr. Shepherd believed that instead of using light as a signal, he would use a chemical signal. For example: “The potential for robots in the future may be to understand the soil chemistry of row crops and decide when to add more fertilizer, for example, possibly reducing the downstream effects of agriculture like harmful algal blooms.”
It turns out that biohybrid robots in general and fungal computing in particular are a thing. In last week’s article I quoted Professor Andrew Adamatzky, from the University of the West of England about options for mushroom computing. He is not only a Professor in Unconventional Computing there, and is the founder and Editor-in-Chief International Journal for Unconventional Computingbut also literally wrote the book on mushroom computing. He has been working on fungal computing since 2018 (and previously on slime mold computing).
Professor Adamatzky notes that fungi have multiple sensory inputs: “They sense light, chemicals, gases, gravity, and electric fields,” which opens the door to multiple inputs (and outputs). So, Ugnius Bajarunas, a member of Professor Adamatzy’s team, told the audience last year: “Our goal is a real-time dialogue between natural and artificial systems.”
With mushroom computing, TechHQ predicts: “The future of computing could be one where we care for devices in a way that is closer to caring for houseplants than connecting and activating laptops.”
But how to revive it?
There are some who feel that we are making progress in biohybrid robotics faster than we think in terms of ethics. A paper early this summer – Ethics and responsibility in biohybrid robotics research – request that we quickly develop and ethical framework, and potentially regulations.
The author states: “While the ethical dilemmas associated with biohybrid robots correspond to challenges seen in fields like biomedicine, conventional robotics, or artificial intelligence, the unique combination of living and non-living components in biohybrid robots, also called biorobots, produces its own set of complexities. ethics that warrant appropriate investigation.
The main author Dr. Rafael Mestre, from the University of Southampton, said: “But unlike purely mechanical or digital technologies, bio-hybrid robots mix biological and synthetic components in an unprecedented way. This offers unique advantages but also potential dangers. Lead author AnÃbal M Astobiza, an ethicist from the University of the Basque Country, explains:
Bio-hybrid robots pose a unique ethical dilemma. The living tissue used in fabrication, the potential for sentience, different environmental influences, unusual moral status, and the capacity for biological evolution or adaptation create unique ethical dilemmas that transcend artificial or biological technology.
Dr Matt Ryan, political scientist from the University of Southampton and co-author of the paper, added: “Compared to related technologies such as embryonic stem cells or artificial intelligence, bio-hybrid robotics has been developed relatively unscrutinized by the media. public and policy makers, but it is not very important.
Big Think recently focused on the topic, asking: A revolutionary biohybrid robot is coming. Are we ready? The article says, “Nowadays, scientific progress is increasingly showing that biological beings are not just born; they can be built.” Note: “Biohybrid robots take advantage of millions of years of evolution of living systems to give robots advantages such as self-healing, greater adaptability, and superior sensor resolution. But are we ready for a terrifying new world that mixes synthetic and biological blurring the lines between life and non-life?
Probably not. As Dr. Mestre and his colleagues conclude: “If the debate about embryonic stem cells, human cloning, or artificial intelligence has taught us anything, it is that humans rarely agree on the correct resolution of the moral dilemmas of emerging technologies.”
Biohybrid robotics and mushroom computing are emerging rapidly.
Do you know what a robot is? You don’t. Do you know how computing works? It may be silicon-based, but it may not be “unconventional.” Are you ready for artificial intelligence? The mushroom-powered AI might still surprise you.
A really fun time.
Kim is a former emarketing executive at the main Blues plan, editor of the last & lamented Tincture.ioand now a regular THCB contributor
