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Machine Wilderness
Project outline.
Locations: FoAM's MidWest_Experimental_Station and Zone2Source in Amstelpark.
Partners: FoAM Ams, Zone2Source, Ivan Henriques, Daan van Geijlswijk .
Machine_Ecology_notes
Machine_Ecology_PlanVanAanpak
Machine_Ecology_ProgrammaEisenRobot
Machine_Ecology_Het Verhaal
Machine_Ecology_Planning
Keywords: ecological robotics, restoration ecology, artificial organisms, artscience, foodwebs, trophic cascades, biodiversity, groworld.
Outline:
This programme is aimed at reimagining what robotics could mean in functionality, materiality and ecology, when they are designed as expressions based on habitats and trophic interactions. Machine Wilderness is a project prototyping artificial organisms as a functional agents within biomes and landscapes, actively contributing to biodiversity. The new MidWest Experimental Station a research station set up by FoAM in Amsterdam, will provide a test area for ecological robotics and study interactions between biomes and mechanical organisms.
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?
Artists / designers:
- Ivan Henriques Symbiotic Machine
- FoAM's Augmented Ecology
- Shlomi Mir Tumbleweed Robot
- Gilberto Esparza Nomadic Plants
- Giep Hagoort plans a Dutch Robot Park
Theory:
- Robots in Ecology: Welcome to the machine PDF
Universities:
- Bristol Robotics Lab Robot with artificial gut research PDF and their study on Biodegradable Robotics
- Robbe van Beers KU Leuven, robotica and ripeness sensors used for Breaburn apples
- TUDelft CyberZoo
- GaTech Mobile Robot Lab
- IBED UVA
- 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:
Companies:
- Technology for Nature University College London, Microsoft Research and the Zoological Society of London
- Chico Mendes bot Brazilian rainforest pollution bot
History:
Resources:
- Soft Robotics Toolkit is part of Harvard Biodesign Lab that works on 'augmenting and restoring human performance' (exoskeletons etc)
Blogs, groups, etc:
- Robot161 blog
- Robot Hub robotics and desertification
- Robot Report precision agriculture robotics
- Robots.Nu Robot animals
Articles:
Competitions:
- Field Robot competition in Maribor June 15th
- Soft Robotics this years challenge
Conferences:
- 2015 Robotics: Science and Systems Conference in Rome, July 13-17
Agriculture bots:
Harvesting and Tractors:
Tractors do two things: provide guidance to the devices they are towing, and pulling power. Current tractors are huge and if they break down, the entire operation comes to a halt. Autonomous machines don't need operators and can operate around the clock. Thus tight operational windows can be achieved for seeding and other time-sensitive activities.
- Energid citrus picker
- Amazone-Bosch BoniRob field robot
- Rowbot corn fertilizer bot
Planting, Pruning, Potting, Grafting and Nursery Operations:
- Harvest Automation potted plant movement
- ISO Group machinebouw
- Helper Robotech grafting bot
- Conic Systems grafting robot
- Wall-Ye pruning robot
Thinning and Weeding:
- Naio weeding bot
- ecoRobotix weeding bot
- Vision Robotics lettuce pruner
more listed here: Unibots
Note:
Machine Wilderness was the title of ISEA2012, we adopt it in this programme as a working title.