Is it possible to give a robotic arm a machete?
The creator of an installation called "Plant Machete" explores the question of if it is possible to build a robot.
The brain of the robot controlling the machete is that of the plant.
The live philodendron that was used in the installation directs the arm through an open-source chip that gets input from the plant's electric signals.
The artist's website states that the signals are mapped in real-time to the movements of the industrial robot holding a machete. The movement of the machete is determined by the input from the plant.
The plant-controlled robotic arm in the artist's video looks a lot like a hospital patient's vital signs are read by the sensors.
There is no evidence that the philodendron is directing its swordplay. The signals from the plant are likely to be random number generators.
This is a novel approach, but it's not the first time we've seen this type of plant. A Chinese roboticist built a machine that could move a plant around to find the best sun, and researchers at MIT built a houseplant that could travel on two wheels.
Given how much we're hurting the planet in our endless pursuit of advancement, it's certainly a fun twist on the idea of empowering plants with robot arms.
The inventor of CyberCockroach says it will only be used for good.
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