By Stephen D’Angelo
Tools that offer early and accurate insight into plant health – and allow individual plant interventions – are key to increasing crop yields as environmental pressures increasingly impact horticulture and agriculture.
In response to this challenge, Cornell researchers have developed a soft robotic device that gently grips and injects living plant leaves with sensors that help it detect and communicate with its environment. The robot can also inject genetic material that could be used for bioengineering plants in the future.
The device allows for safe, repeatable delivery of sensors and genetic material in a reliable, plant-safe way – an essential step in precision, data-driven agriculture. The team’s findings were published in Science Robotics.
Funding for the research was provided by the National Science Foundation under a five-year, $25 million grant supporting the Cornell-led Center for Research on Programmable Plant Systems (CROPPS).
Source : cornell.edu