5 ms·
Better title would “random input enables robot to wiggle; mushroom used as random generator.”
by shermantanktop 2y ago
Better title would “random input enables robot to wiggle; mushroom used as random generator.”
- manvillej 2y agonow you are making me wonder if mushrooms could be good random number generators
- capitainenemo 2y agoWell, reading the article from the research that was linked in the HN comments: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/scirobotics.adk8019?url_ver=Z39.88-2003&rfr_id=ori:rid:crossref.org&rfr_dat=cr_pub%20%200pubmed https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/scirobotics.adk8019?url_... "Taking advantage of fungal mycelia’s natural light sensitivity, Mishra et al. developed an electrical interface to both house the mycelia and measure their electrophysiological action potentials. A control model was then developed to use the rhythmic voltage spikes from the living mycelia to control the locomotion of both a soft starfish-inspired robot and a wheeled robot. Robot trajectories could be altered by stimulating the mycelia with ultraviolet light. " So. The mushroom was used as an ultraviolet light sensor, not just an RNG. But you could imagine it reacting to anything that might interest a mushroom. Food? Some sensors could be more useful than others.