During the early 2010s, the emergence of Zoobotics and robots inspired by animals coincided with the introduction of another type of robotics. This concept was initially proposed by Barbara Mazzolai, a former biologist from Italy who envisioned merging the growth processes of plants with robotics to create roboplants.
Mazzolai proposed looking beyond animals and came up with roboplants, which may appear uninteresting due to their limited mobility, but they present various possibilities, especially in establishing a human colony on new planets such as Mars where infrastructure is crucial and roboplants can contribute significantly.
Using Roboplants on Mars
Astronauts rely on basic necessities like shelter, food, and water when exploring other planets. Due to the distance between Mars and Earth, astronauts must have a self-sustaining system that can support their needs without relying on supplies from Earth. To achieve this, BGR reported that some scientists are looking into using roboplants to help find essential components like water and nutrients.
Plants may not be fast movers, but they are skilled at searching for water and nutrients in the soil. By combining plant abilities with a robot designed to search for similar components necessary for human survival, the process of finding water on Mars can be made more efficient.
Read more at sciencetimes.com