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Botany JoVE (Open Access) Citable · DOI

Robotic Sensing and Stimuli Provision for Guided Plant Growth

DOI: 10.3791/59835-v
What you'll learn
  • ✓ Design and deploy robotic nodes to deliver targeted light stimuli to climbing plants
  • ✓ Apply phototropism principles to guide plant growth into predefined spatial patterns
  • ✓ Monitor plant health and growth trajectories during automated stimulus-guided experiments
  • ✓ Analyze binary decision-point growth data from multi-stage plant navigation trials
Protocol

Biopharma Insights Distributed robot nodes provide sequences of blue light stimuli to steer the growth trajectories of climbing plants. By activating natural phototropism, the robots guide the plants through binary left-right decisions, growing them into predefined patterns that by contrast are not possible when the robots are dormant.

Difficulty
advanced
Total time
~4–8 weeks (depending on plant species growth rate and experimental protocol duration)
Model organism
Climbing plants (species-dependent; see protocol)

Steps

1
Select plant species and configure robot hardware

Choose appropriate climbing plant species compatible with experimental setup. Design and assemble robotic node hardware to deliver controlled blue light stimuli in designated spatial configurations.

▶ 01:17
2
Program robot software and establish monitoring systems

Install robot control software to generate blue light stimulus sequences. Set up plant health monitoring sensors and establish routine maintenance protocols to ensure sustained experimental conditions.

▶ 05:00
3
Execute multi-decision experiment and record growth data

Run the robotic stimulation protocol, guiding plants through sequential left-right growth decisions. Document plant trajectories, growth rates, and stimulus responses via imaging or sensor data.

▶ 05:56
4
Analyze robot-guided growth patterns and results

Compare growth trajectories of stimulated plants to control (dormant robot) conditions. Quantify the success of phototropism-based guidance in achieving predefined growth patterns.

▶ 06:41
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