Plants provide shade, produce raw materials such as cotton and wood, and also play an important role in absorbing carbon dioxide. But researchers at his Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia in Pisa, Innovative application It gives a new meaning to ‘green power’. They collect electricity from plants. Nevertheless, this is not their first attempt to harness the potential of botany. technology projectIn 2012 they developed Plantoid. Plantoid is the first robotic plant to replicate plant root characteristics and create a system that can measure subsurface nutrients and moisture. Their latest experiment now harnesses power from plant leaves to power LED lights.
Their approach to this new bio-based power source takes advantage of the ability of some plants to convert mechanical force into electrical current. That is, when a leaf moves or touches another substance, an electric current flows from the branch to the trunk, causing an electric current to flow. What the Italian team did is basically connect a socket to the plant and carry that electricity to a light bulb. This is enough for him to power 100 LED lights simultaneously every time a leaf moves.
Based on this principle, the team improved the oleander oleander. tree with artificial leaves Contact with natural oleander oleander leaves. When the wind blows, the artificial leaves move and rub against the natural leaves, greatly doubling the power produced by the plant. Therefore, it is even possible to harness the power produced by trees and turn forests into true power plants.
Italian researcher initiative funded by EU Growbot projectWe aim to develop a bio-inspired robot that can grow autonomously using 3D printing.
green cyborg
One of the basic characteristics of plants is that they are firmly rooted in the soil in which they live. The only mobility they enjoy is turning the leaves towards the light during the growth process. Or was. As a scientist at his MIT Media Lab in the United States just announced, innovative technology It provides mobility to the plants, allowing them to move to areas with more light exposure. Codenamed Elowan, the system is a wheeled plant with sensor-equipped leaves. When light hits them, the plants produce bioelectrochemical signals that are detected by electrodes.They then pass the information to robot system, move towards the light. This could be the starting point for a new generation of biohybrids.
The approach of this technology project is to use the types of sensors or self-healing properties found in nature to optimize human technology. It is a co-economy with the natural world, rather than the ruthless exploitation of its resources.
sauce: Science Daily, Digital Trends
