Description du projet
Des robots au menu
L’alimentation et la robotique présentent des contraintes et des propriétés diamétralement différentes. Que se passe-t-il donc si l’on essaie d’unir ces deux domaines? C’est exactement ce que le projet ROBOFOOD, financé par l’UE, a entrepris de faire. Pour la toute première fois, le projet créera des robots capables d’être mangés et des aliments qui se comportent comme des robots. Il tirera parti des principes de la robotique molle et des méthodes de traitement des aliments avancées pour contribuer à ouvrir la voie à un nouvel espace de conception pour les robots comestibles et les aliments robotisés. De plus, il testera ces derniers avec des technologies de validation de principe pour la préservation des animaux, le sauvetage des êtres humains et la nutrition humaine. Ces robots pourraient un jour être utilisés pour aider les êtres humains et les animaux dans des situations d’urgence.
Objectif
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
Champ scientifique
- 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
Mots‑clés
Programme(s)
Régime de financement
RIA - Research and Innovation actionCoordinateur
1015 Lausanne
Suisse