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Plant Root Strategies for Robotic Soil Penetration

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Biomimetic and Biohybrid Systems (Living Machines 2013)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNAI,volume 8064))

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Abstract

Soil penetration strategies of plant roots can represent an interesting source of inspiration for designing explorer robots. In this work we present a selection of these strategies whose performances were discussed and evaluated by means of engineering mock-ups and dedicated experiments in granular substrates. The obtained results demonstrated that root elongation from the tip reduces the forces needed for soil penetration up to 50%; tip morphology and anchorage resulted to strongly influence penetration performances.

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References

  1. Bengough, A.G., Croser, C., Pritchard, J.: A biophysical analysis of root growth under mechanical stress. Plant and Soil 189, 155–164 (1997)

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  2. Tonazzini, A., Popova, L., Mattioli, F., Mazzolai, B.: Analysis and Characterization of a Robotic Probe Inspired by the Plant Root Apex. In: Biorob, Roma (2012)

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  3. Sadeghi, A., Tonazzini, A., Popova, L., Mazzolai, B.: Innovative Robotic Mechanism for Soil Penetration Inspired by Plant Roots. In: ICRA, Karlsruhe (2013)

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© 2013 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Tonazzini, A., Sadeghi, A., Popova, L., Mazzolai, B. (2013). Plant Root Strategies for Robotic Soil Penetration. In: Lepora, N.F., Mura, A., Krapp, H.G., Verschure, P.F.M.J., Prescott, T.J. (eds) Biomimetic and Biohybrid Systems. Living Machines 2013. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 8064. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-39802-5_62

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-39802-5_62

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-39801-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-39802-5

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

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