Organizers
Isabella Fiorello, Charles Anderson
Location, Date and Time
Simpson Querrey Biomedical Research Center: SQBRC 2-200
July 8, 2024, 08:30 – 12:30
Abstract
Plants serve as an ideal source of inspiration for roboticists and engineers, owing to their remarkable ability to adapt to diverse environments. The emergence of miniature plant-inspired machines represents an exciting new era in bioinspired and biohybrid robotics, opening new possibilities for robotics at the microscale. These small-scale robots offer unique advantages such as enhanced maneuverability, adaptability to confined spaces, sustainable construction, and low energy consumption. They excel in tasks requiring complex environmental interactions, such as environmental monitoring and soil exploration.
The workshop “Plant-like Machines in Miniature: Adapting Plant Biomechanics through Soft Robotics” explores combining plant biology with engineering on a tiny scale. Specifically, it will feature the development of miniature plant-inspired robots and soft machines for precise environmental conservation and monitoring tasks. Combining plant-inspired biomimetic design, biohybrid materials, and advanced microfabrication techniques, these innovative machines promise to revolutionize our understanding and management of natural ecosystems at small scales.
Experts from diverse disciplines will converge to share the latest advancements in plant biomechanics and sustainable plant-inspired machines tailored for navigating intricate environments while interacting delicately with their surroundings. This workshop aims to catalyze interdisciplinary collaboration, fostering the exchange of groundbreaking ideas among botanists, biologists, roboticists and engineers.
Organizers
Alexander Hunt
Location, Date and Time
Gray Seminar Room, Lurie 1-165
July 8, 2024, 08:30 – 12:50
Abstract
This workshop will serve as a discussion space of the latest results from how the C3NS NeuroNex Research Network is investigating how animals move by studying and modeling animals of different sizes and with unique evolutionary histories. Despite the apparent differences between animals and their behaviors, they all use a nervous system to control their motions, which must follow the laws of physics. This workshop will be divided into three, highly interconnected parts: Behavior and Control, Sensory Feedback, and Mechanics and Actuation. Behavior and Control will discuss locomotor strategies in insects and mammals and attempts to model the nervous system. Sensory Feedback will discuss methods for understanding and modeling sensory feedback in different mechanical contexts. Mechanics and Actuation will discuss how mechanics scale with size and methods for reproducing animal mechanics and muscle-like actuation.
Organizers
Rafael Mestre, Ned Barker, Sergey Astakhov
Location, Date and Time
Gray Seminar Room, Lurie 1-165
July 8, 2024, 13:30 – 17:30
Abstract
Biohybrid robots are turning from science fiction into reality. We do not interact with them every day, but one day we might. While the field is still in its infancy, we are already seeing a diverse range of biohybrid robots coming to life: muscle-based biological swimmers or crawlers, AI-designed ‘xenobots’ made of frog cells, or cyborg beetles. Scientific communities are grappling with what future biohybrid robots will look like, and what they will do. As the field advances, fundamental questions around the nature of the interactions between biohybrid robots and humans will surface. Navigating these complex social, ethical, and policy landscapes will require more than just engineering and design perspectives.
This half-day tutorial aims to lay the groundwork for future ‘Human-Biohybrid Robot Interactions’ by bringing technological possibilities and trajectories for the interdisciplinary field into dialogue with the social and political sciences. Attendees from different backgrounds are encouraged to participate. This tutorial will start by framing both technological and social perspectives, to stimulate audience discussions on the future of the field. Participants will be invited to plot key milestones and challenges for what may lie ahead through speculative timeline activities. Together, we will consider the wider implications of novel interactions between humans and biohybrid robots, forming principles to guide future research and development.
Website
Read more about the workshop and its schedule: https://biohybrid-futures.ac.uk/living-machines-2024-tutorial/ or https://biohybridbodies.wordpress.com/preparing-for-human-biohybrid-robot-interactions/.
