Descripción del proyecto
Robots en el menú
Los alimentos y la robótica tienen limitaciones y propiedades diametralmente opuestas. Pero ¿qué sucede cuando se intenta emparejarlos? Esto es exactamente lo que quiere hacer el proyecto financiado con fondos europeos ROBOFOOD, que será pionero en la creación de robots que se puedan comer y alimentos que se comporten como robots. En el proyecto se emplearán principios de la robótica blanda y métodos avanzados de transformación de alimentos para contribuir a un nuevo espacio de diseño para robots comestibles y alimentos robóticos y evaluarlo con tecnologías de prueba de concepto para la conservación de animales, el rescate de personas y la nutrición humana. Estos robots podrían emplearse un día para ayudar a personas y animales en situaciones de emergencia.
Objetivo
Ordering your pizza and having it delivered in a few minutes by a drone? That could soon be routine. But what about having the drone itself for dessert, instead of sending it back? That would be entirely new technological territory with applications far beyond take-away meals. By combining food science and robotic science in a radically new way, the ROBOFOOD project will for the first time create robots that can be eaten and foods that behave like robots. Such edible robots could deliver lifesaving
nutrition to humans in emergency situation; they could supply vaccines and supplements to endangered animal
species; robotic food with edible actuators and electronics, on the other hand, could tell us when it is well preserved and safe to eat; it could protect itself from excessive heat or humidity during storage; it could facilitate swallowing for neurologic patients, and interact with humans and animals in totally new ways, to address dietary goals or influence eating habits. These goals require an interdisciplinary investigation into the principles of robotics and food science, which have very different and contrasting properties. Traditional robots are inorganic systems that perceive the environment and perform actions. Food instead is mostly organic material that can be digested and metabolized to support life. We will use soft robotic principles and advanced food processing methods to establish a common ground, and pave the way towards a new design space for edible robots and robotic food. We will validate it with proof-of-concept technologies for animal preservation, human rescue, human nutrition. The project is profoundly interdisciplinary, merging two fields that have hardly ever interacted before and pushing them well beyond the state of the art; its ambitious science-based technological breakthroughs have the potential to address environmental and health problems, and also The new science and technology of edible robots and robotic food for humans and animals
Ámbito científico
- medical and health sciencesbasic medicinepharmacology and pharmacypharmaceutical drugsvaccines
- medical and health scienceshealth sciencesnutrition
- engineering and technologyelectrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineeringelectronic engineeringroboticssoft robotics
- engineering and technologyelectrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineeringelectronic engineeringroboticsautonomous robotsdrones
Palabras clave
Programa(s)
Convocatoria de propuestas
Consulte otros proyectos de esta convocatoriaConvocatoria de subcontratación
H2020-FETOPEN-2018-2019-2020-01
Régimen de financiación
RIA - Research and Innovation actionCoordinador
1015 Lausanne
Suiza