Researchers at Cornell University (CU) pioneer a new frontier in robotics by integrating fungal mycelia into a system, creating biohybrid robots that can autonomously respond to their environment.

Detailed in a study published on August 8 in Science Robotics, scientists cultivated mycelia from king oyster mushrooms and integrated them into two types of robots: a soft-bodied starfish-like robot and a wheeled bot. By harnessing the mycelia’s innate electrical signals, these robots can react to environmental stimuli, such as light, in ways that traditional robots cannot.

“This paper is the first of many that will use the fungal kingdom to provide environmental sensing and command signals to robots to improve their levels of autonomy,” explains Robert Shepherd, a professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at CU and senior author of the study.

Mycelium, the underground network of threads that support mushrooms, acts similarly to a neural network. According to the study, the mycelium’s electrical impulses can be converted into digital commands that control the robot’s movements.

The team created two types of robots: a soft, starfish-shaped robot and a wheeled robot. When exposed to ultraviolet light, the robots altered their movements, demonstrating their ability to respond to environmental changes.

“Mushrooms don’t really like light,” says Robert Shepherd. “Based on the difference in the intensities (of the light), you can get different functions of the robot. It will move faster or move away from the light.”

The Advantages of Mycelium in Robotics

Mycelium is also not only easy to cultivate but also highly resilient to extreme conditions. Unlike animal cells, which are expensive and ethically complex to use, or plant cells, which respond slowly to stimuli, fungal mycelia are both cost-effective and highly responsive. Fungal cells can survive in very salty water or severe cold, according to Anand Mishra, a research associate in Cornell’s Organic Robotics Lab and lead author of the study.

It makes mycelium-controlled robots particularly suited for agricultural applications. “In this case, we used light as the input, but in the future, it will be chemical. The potential for future robots could be to sense soil chemistry in row crops and decide when to add more fertilizer, for example, perhaps mitigating downstream effects of agriculture like harmful algal blooms,” notes Shepherd.

Moreover, its sustainability aspect cannot be overstated. Traditional robots often rely on non-biodegradable materials, while biohybrid robots made from mycelium are more environmentally friendly. They can be deployed in large numbers without the risk of leaving behind harmful pollutants.

The study received support from the National Science Foundation (NSF) CROPPS Science and Technology Center, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture, and the NSF Signals in Soil program.

Ethical and Ecological Concerns of Biohybrid Robots

The concept of biohybrid robots is not entirely novel. Other research created mouse neuron-powered robots that can walk and swim, as well as jellyfish cell-based robots suited for ocean exploration.

However, the integration of living organisms into robotic systems does raise ethical and practical concerns. Rafael Mestre, a lecturer at the School of Electronics and Computer Science at the University of Southampton, cautions against the potential disruption of ecosystems. “If you release these robots in large numbers, it could be disruptive,” he says.

Mestre emphasizes the importance of considering the long-term impacts of deploying biohybrid robots in natural environments. “You are putting these things into the trophic chain of an ecosystem in a place where it shouldn’t be,” he adds, suggesting that more research is needed to fully understand the ecological consequences.