Project outline.
Partners: FoAM Ams, Zone2Source, Ivan Henriques, Daan van Geijlswijk .
Machine_Ecology_notes
Machine_Ecology_PlanVanAanpak
Machine_Ecology_ProgrammaEisenRobot
Machine_Ecology_Het Verhaal

Keywords: ecological robotics, restoration ecology, artificial organisms, artscience, foodwebs, trophic cascades, biodiversity, groworld.

Outline:
Anthropocentric landscapes are characterized by reduced biodiversity and ecosystem functions. Traditionally the engeneering focus on landscape maintainance has been primarily on efficiently extracting these landscapes, in industrial agriculture, forestry, mining and tourism. Machine Ecology is a project proposal sketching out the potential for artificial organisms as a functional part of ecosystems, contributing to biodiversity. The new MidWest Experimental Station a research station set up by FoAM in Amsterdam, could function as a test area for ecological robotics and study interactions between biomes and mechanical organisms.

Transplantation Ecology:
The Amsterdam area is an old swamp and much of the Western part of it has been topped-up with some 60 to 80 cm of sand in the 1930. This sand came from the area of het Gooi. With the Goois Natuur Reservaat, we are discussing the possibility of 'transplantation ecology', which is an emerging method of relocating vegetation holistically from natural areas. In our case this would form the biome for artificial animals to interact with. These methods have not been applied often, and we will monitor the development of the test plot with the help off experienced taxonomists and urban ecologists.

Topics: Could artificial beings contribute to biodiversity, microclimates, pollination, zoochorie, reforestation or even fill vacant ecological niches? Could artificial beings interact symbiotically in food-webs? Use foraging strategies as a power source? Predate on invasive species, or enable trophic cascades to create more biodiverse landscapes?

Researchers:

• Ivan Henriques
• Shlomi Mir

Theory:

• PDF Robots in Ecology: Welcome to the machine
• FoAM's Augmented Ecology

Universities:

• GaTech Mobile Robot Lab
• IBED UVA
• Bristol Robotics Lab
• Oregon University Dynamic Robotics Lab
• UCL Centre for Mathematics, Physics and Engineering in the Life Sciences and Experimental Biology
• Harvard Robobees
• CalTech Ocean Gliders
• WSU LiDAR fearscapes

Open Source:

• Open ROV (marine)
• Coral Reef Bot
• EcoSynth 3D mapping and measuring vegetation
• iGEM decomposable drone

Companies:

• Festo
• Swarm Farm
• Robird
• Technology for Nature University College London, Microsoft Research and the Zoological Society of London
• Coralbots
• Hibot
• Robugtrix

History:

• Cybernetic Zoo
• Digesting Duck
• Telegarden
• Senster
• Medieval Robotics