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ITHACA, NY – Harvest scientists over the years have learned a lot about how plants grow from soil, but much less is known about roots and their interactions with the soil. Now, a Cornell University project will develop worm-like robots that swim in soil to detect and record the properties of the soil, water, soil microbiome, and how roots grow.
A $ 2 million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) led by Principal Researcher (PI) Taryn Bauerle, associate professor of horticulture at Cornell’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, will focus on plants and soil perspective.
Meanwhile, a $ 750,000 grant from the National Robotics Initiative NSF to PI Robert Shepherd, associate professor at Cornell’s College of Engineering’s Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, will develop soil monitoring robots.
The project will focus on maize, with the ultimate goal of incorporating factors related to root growth to improve breeding efforts and soil management that directly affect productivity and food security.
“We plan to develop new tools so that we can tap into the underground environment of plants and soil in a way that allows us to shine light in a black box of plant-soil interactions,” Bauerle said.
The team will develop 1- to 2-foot worm-like robots that emulate the way a hole drills into the ground, combined with a peristaltic motion that mimics the way worms move through the soil.
Another goal of the project will be to evaluate how plants might respond to the effects of climate change, such as water availability. Root growth measurements, taken into account with environmental data, can provide insight into how roots grow based on external conditions, such as drought.
“This is really the next frontier in plant biology,” said project co-PI Michael Gore, professor of molecular breeding and genetics. By quantifying the characteristics of the subsoil, researchers can then identify relationships to the characteristics of the soil, Gore said.
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