Rise of the GrowBots

The rise of autonomous robots has ushered in a new era of technological advancements and transformative changes. These sophisticated machines, equipped with artificial intelligence and advanced sensors, are reshaping the landscape of tasks traditionally performed by humans. From manufacturing and logistics to healthcare and agriculture, autonomous robots are streamlining processes, enhancing efficiency, and even contributing to improved safety standards.

However, autonomous robots require a number of bulky, expensive, and energy-hungry sensors and controllers for operation. The necessity for such complex components poses challenges in terms of cost, size, and sustainability. The high price tags associated with these advanced sensors can limit the accessibility of autonomous technology, particularly for smaller businesses or industries with limited resources. Additionally, the bulkiness of these components can affect the mobility and agility of robots, restricting their application in certain environments.

Efforts are underway to address these challenges and make autonomous robots more practical and cost-effective. Research and development initiatives are focusing on miniaturizing sensors, reducing power consumption, and exploring alternative materials to create more compact and energy-efficient components. But these types of changes require advances in the current state of the art on a number of technological fronts and accordingly, will take time to achieve.

In an attempt to shorten this timeline, researchers at the Italian Institute of Technology have taken a very non-traditional approach to the problem that leverages existing technologies in a new way. Inspired by the way that vines and other climbing plants can grow around other objects, like trees, while moving around obstacles in their way, they have developed a soft snake-like robot named FiloBot that moves by growing longer. And just like the plants that it was designed to mimic, this robot can grow in a direction relative to the pull of gravity, or towards sunshine or shade.

FiloBot achieves this feat by hiding a 3D printer in its head. This head rotates in a circle and polylactic acid (PLA) is deposited from an extruder at its base which causes the body to grow longer. The PLA is supplied by a spool located in the base of the robot. Both the speed of the rotations, as well as the amount of PLA deposited, can be dynamically adjusted, which allows the robot to build twists and turns into its body as it is constructed. These adjustments are coordinated by a CYBLE-014008-00 microcontroller manufactured by Infineon/Cypress Semiconductor. The addition of an accelerometer and digital color sensor enable the robot to sense gravity and light, respectively, to inform its pattern of growth.

Clearly this robot is not a one-size-fits-all solution for autonomous robotics applications. But when the application requirements line up with the capabilities of this niche device, it can greatly simplify navigational systems. It also has some interesting features that allow it to minimize the amount of PLA material it is using when it is curling itself around an existing support structure, and conversely, when it has to span an unsupported gap it can print a more sturdy, heavier section into the body.

FiloBot is especially well-suited to operations in unpredictable and unstructured environments. The research team envisions it being used in future rescue operations and in measuring environmental pollution in hazardous environments. With some additional work, they also believe that FiloBot could be utilized in self-building infrastructures.