Development of Bio-machine based on the plant response to external stimuli

Abstract

In the area of biorobotics, intense research work is being done based on plant intelligence. Any living cell continuously receives information from the environment. In this paper, research is conducted on the plant named descoingsii x haworthioides (Pepe) obtaining the action potential signals and its responses to stimulations of different light modes. The plant electrical signal is the reaction of plant's stimulation owing to various environmental conditions. Action potentials are responsible for signaling between plant cells and communication from the plants can be achieved through modulation of various parameters of the electrical signal in the plant tissue. The modulated signals are used for providing information to the microcontroller's algorithm for working of the bio-machine. The changes of frequency of action potentials in plant are studied. Electromyography (EMG) electrodes and needletype conductive electrodes along with electronic modules are used to collect and transform the information from the plant. Inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT) is used to convert signal in frequency domain into voltage signal for real-time analysis. The changes in frequency of the plant action potentials to different light modes are used for the control of the bio-machine. This work has paved the way for an extensive research towards plant intelligence.

PlantES: A Plant Electrophysiological Multi-Source Data Online Analysis and Sharing Platform

“…[23] The IFFT (Inverse Fast Fourier transform) was used to convert the frequency domain signals into voltage signal. [24] Yang et al established the action potential model of the flytrap by mechanical stimulation.…”

Towards a plant bio-machine

“…A set of unsuccessful tests is briefly reported here. The experimental setup presented in [32] was attempted under different light conditions, with the difference that the used plant was placed inside a Faraday cage. No variation of reported output frequency was found.…”

“…No variation of reported output frequency was found. It is therefore plausible that the results reported in [32] are the result of environmental/electromagnetic noise (as the plant was not shielded).…”

Forward and inverse modelling approaches for prediction of light stimulus from electrophysiological response in plants

“…A detailed analysis of plant electrophysiological systems is documented in [12]. Although there were a few attempts to understand the nature of such electrical signals using signal processing techniques [13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20], rigorous models correlating the characteristics of such signals with the externally applied stimuli are yet to be developed.…”