Toward Growing Robots: A Historical Evolution from Cellular to Plant-Inspired Robotics

Area of Science:

• Robotics and Artificial Intelligence
• Biomimetic Engineering

Background:

• The concept of morphological evolution in artificial systems has been explored through various approaches like self-assembly and plant inspiration.
• Reproducing biological growth processes in robots offers potential for adaptive systems in challenging environments.

Purpose of the Study:

• To provide the first formal definition of "growing robots."
• To review the historical development and key milestones in growing robot research.
• To categorize and discuss existing growth-inspired robotic systems.

Main Methods:

• Literature review of existing research on self-replication, morphological adaptation, and bio-inspired robotics.
• Categorization of growing robots based on natural models (molecule, cell, organism).
• Analysis of different approaches, including self-assembly, self-reconfigurability, and plant inspiration.

Main Results:

• The paper establishes the definition of growing robots as systems that incrementally add material, mimicking biological growth.
• A historical overview traces the evolution from self-replicating automata to plant-inspired self-building robots.
• Examples of growing robots are presented, classified by their biological inspiration.

Conclusions:

• Growing robots represent a significant advancement in creating adaptive and self-building artificial systems.
• Further research is needed to achieve biological growth fidelity in robotic systems.
• Applications span terrestrial and space exploration, disaster monitoring, and hazardous environments.