The new science and technology of edible robots and robotic food for humans and animals

Project Information

ROBOFOOD

Grant agreement ID: 964596

DOI

10.3030/964596

Project closed

EC signature date 15 December 2020

Start date 1 October 2021

End date 30 September 2025

Funded under

• EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Future and Emerging Technologies (FET)

Total cost

€ 3 411 691,25

EU contribution

€ 3 411 691,25

Coordinated by

ECOLE POLYTECHNIQUE FEDERALE DE LAUSANNE
Switzerland

CORDIS provides links to public deliverables and publications of HORIZON projects.

Links to deliverables and publications from FP7 projects, as well as links to some specific result types such as dataset and software, are dynamically retrieved from OpenAIRE .

Deliverables

Websites, patent fillings, videos etc. (1)

Robofood Website

Project public website presenting goals consortiums members results public deliverables and media resources

Publications

Peer reviewed articles (20)

Inkjet Printable Conductive Activated Carbon Ink from Sustainable Sources

Author(s): João Paulo Vita Damasceno, Valerio Francesco Annese, Giulia Coco, Lauro Tatsuo Kubota, Mario Caironi
Published in: ACS Applied Electronic Materials, Issue 7, 2025, Page(s) 4403-4412, ISSN 2637-6113
Publisher: American Chemical Society (ACS)
DOI: 10.1021/acsaelm.4c01509

Designing 3D-printed wheat starch cryogels: Effect of geometry on mechanical performance

Author(s): Ruihao Zhu, Jáchym Jarkulisch, Maarten A.I. Schutyser, Remko M. Boom, Lu Zhang
Published in: Innovative Food Science & Emerging Technologies, Issue 102, 2025, Page(s) 104003, ISSN 1466-8564
Publisher: Elsevier BV
DOI: 10.1016/j.ifset.2025.104003

Edible aquatic robots with Marangoni propulsion

Author(s): Shuhang Zhang, Bokeon Kwak, Ruihao Zhu, Markéta Pankhurst, Lu Zhang, Remko M. Boom, Dario Floreano
Published in: Nature Communications, Issue 16, 2025, ISSN 2041-1723
Publisher: Nature Publishing Group
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-59559-8

Edible Soft Actuators Based on Konjac Glucomannan for Underwater Operation

Author(s): Ryo Kanno, Bokeon Kwak, Markéta Pankhurst, Jun Shintake, Dario Floreano
Published in: Advanced Intelligent Systems, 2024, ISSN 2640-4567
Publisher: Wiley-VCH GmbH
DOI: 10.1002/aisy.202300473

A Corn‐Based Electrically Conductive Glue for Integration of Edible Electronics

Author(s): Noemí Contreras‐Pereda, Valerio Galli, Pietro Cataldi, Valerio Francesco Annese, Giulia Coco, Athanassia Athanassiou, Alessandro Luzio, Mario Caironi
Published in: Small Science, Issue 5, 2025, ISSN 2688-4046
Publisher: Wiley
DOI: 10.1002/smsc.202400373

An Edible Bistable Tilt Sensor Enabling Autonomous Operation of a Partially Eatable Rolling Robot

Author(s): Valerio F. Annese; Bokeon Kwak; Giulia Coco; Valerio Galli; Ivan K. Ilic; Pietro Cataldi; Dario Floreano; Mario Caironi
Published in: Advanced Sensor Research, 2023, ISSN 2751-1219
Publisher: Wiley
DOI: 10.1002/adsr.202300092

Edible cellulose-based conductive composites for triboelectric nanogenerators and supercapacitors

Author(s): Leonardo Lamanna; Giuseppina Pace; Ivan K. Ilic; Pietro Cataldi; Fabrizio Viola; Marco Friuli; Valerio Galli; Christian Demitri; Mario Caironi
Published in: Nano Energy, 2023, ISSN 2211-2855
Publisher: Elsevier BV
DOI: 10.1016/j.nanoen.2023.108168

A Coplanar Edible Rechargeable Battery with Enhanced Capacity

Author(s): Valerio Galli, Valerio F. Annese, Giulia Coco, Pietro Cataldi, Vincenzo Scribano, Ivan K. Ilic, Athanassia Athanassiou, Mario Caironi
Published in: Advanced Materials Technologies, Issue 9, 2024, ISSN 2365-709X
Publisher: Wiley
DOI: 10.1002/admt.202400715

An Edible Rechargeable Battery

Author(s): Ivan K. Ilic, Valerio Galli, Leonardo Lamanna, Pietro Cataldi, Lea Pasquale, Valerio F. Annese, Athanassia Athanassiou, Mario Caironi
Published in: Advanced Materials, 2023, ISSN 1521-4095
Publisher: Wiley
DOI: 10.1002/adma.202211400

Towards edible robots and robotic food

Author(s): Dario Floreano, Bokeon Kwak, Markéta Pankhurst, Jun Shintake, Mario Caironi, Valerio F. Annese, Qiukai Qi, Jonathan Rossiter, Remko M. Boom
Published in: Nature Reviews Materials, Issue 9, 2024, Page(s) 589-599, ISSN 2058-8437
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
DOI: 10.1038/s41578-024-00688-9

3D-printing of thermoplastic protein-based composites by fused deposition modelling

Author(s): Quinten Steffens, Marije Vliek, Ruud van der Sman, Remko Boom, Lu Zhang
Published in: Journal of Food Engineering, Issue 401, 2025, Page(s) 112660, ISSN 0260-8774
Publisher: Elsevier BV
DOI: 10.1016/j.jfoodeng.2025.112660

Active Biopaste for Coral Reef Restoration

Author(s): Gabriele Corigliano, Valerio Isa, Valerio Francesco Annese, Camilla Rinaldi, Maria Summa, Rosalia Bertorelli, Paolo Galli, Silvia Lavorano, Mario Caironi, Marco Contardi, Pietro Cataldi, Simone Montano, Athanassia Athanassiou
Published in: Advanced Materials, 2025, ISSN 0935-9648
Publisher: United Nations Industrial Developement Organization
DOI: 10.1002/adma.202502078

Edible, optically modulating, shape memory oleogel composites for sustainable soft robotics

Author(s): Qiukai Qi; Alexander Keller; Lihaoya Tan; Yogeenth Kumaresan; Jonathan Rossiter
Published in: Materials & Design, 2023, ISSN 0264-1275
Publisher: Elsevier BV
DOI: 10.1016/j.matdes.2023.112339

Printed Integrated Logic Circuits Based on Chitosan‐Gated Organic Transistors for Future Edible Systems

Author(s): Giulia Coco, Valerio Francesco Annese, Valerio Galli, Ilaria Penna, Debora Russo, Marina Veronesi, Rita Scarpelli, Stefania Sabella, Mario Caironi
Published in: Advanced Functional Materials, 2025, ISSN 1616-301X
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
DOI: 10.1002/adfm.202506452

The rise of transient robotics

Author(s): Qiukai Qi, Valentina Lo Gatto, Alexander Keller, Remko Boom, Mario Caironi, Dario Floreano, Jonathan Rossiter
Published in: Device, Issue 2, 2024, Page(s) 100554, ISSN 2666-9986
Publisher: Cell Press
DOI: 10.1016/j.device.2024.100554

A Sprayable Electrically Conductive Edible Coating for Piezoresistive Strain Sensing

Author(s): Valerio Francesco Annese, Pietro Cataldi, Valerio Galli, Giulia Coco, João Paulo Vita Damasceno, Alex Keller, Yogeenth Kumaresan, Pietro Rossi, Ivan K. Ilic, Bokeon Kwak, Lauro Tatsuo Kubota, Athanassia Athanassiou, Jonathan Rossiter, Dario Floreano, Mario Caironi
Published in: Advanced Sensor Research, 2023, ISSN 2751-1219
Publisher: Wiley-VCH
DOI: 10.1002/adsr.202300150

Tuning the mechanical properties of starch-based cryogels with the aid of additives

Author(s): Ruihao Zhu, Maarten A.I. Schutyser, Remko M. Boom, Lu Zhang
Published in: Carbohydrate Polymer Technologies and Applications, Issue 8, 2025, Page(s) 100548, ISSN 2666-8939
Publisher: Elsevier BV
DOI: 10.1016/j.carpta.2024.100548

Organic Nontoxic Rechargeable Batteries in Food Packaging: A Feasibility Study

Author(s): Valerio F. Annese, Valerio Galli, Giulia Coco, Mario Caironi
Published in: IEEE Transactions on AgriFood Electronics, Issue 2, 2024, Page(s) 252-258, ISSN 2771-9529
Publisher: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
DOI: 10.1109/tafe.2024.3392985

Edible Jumpers Powered by Shell Snapping

Author(s): Bokeon Kwak, Juliette Hars, Dario Floreano
Published in: Advanced Materials Technologies, Issue 10, 2025, ISSN 2365-709X
Publisher: Wiley
DOI: 10.1002/admt.202401230

A Carbon-Based NTC Resistive Temperature Sensor for Edible Electronics

Author(s): Valerio Francesco Annese, Valerio Galli, Giulia Coco, Mario Caironi
Published in: IEEE Journal on Flexible Electronics, Issue 3, 2024, Page(s) 300-305, ISSN 2768-167X
Publisher: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
DOI: 10.1109/jflex.2024.3436594

Conference proceedings (9)

Edible Electronics for Sustainable Agrifood: Towards the Integration of Edible Rechargeable Batteries with Sensor Networks

Author(s): Valerio Galli; Giulia Coco; Valerio F Annese; Mario Caironi
Published in: 2023 IEEE Conference on AgriFood Electronics, 2023
Publisher: IEEE
DOI: 10.1109/cafe58535.2023.10291417

Edible Transistors: from Fabrication to Tips for Storage

Author(s): Elena Feltri, Valerio Galli, Fabrizio Mario Ferrarese, Alessandro Luzio, Mario Caironi
Published in: 2024 IEEE International Conference on Flexible and Printable Sensors and Systems (FLEPS), 2024, Page(s) 1-4
Publisher: IEEE
DOI: 10.1109/fleps61194.2024.10604074

GelBat: An Edible Gelatin-Based Battery

Author(s): Chen, Hsing-Yu; Keller, Alexander; Conn, Andrew; Rossiter, Jonathan
Published in: 2023 IEEE International Conference on Soft Robotics (RoboSoft), 2023, ISBN 979-8-3503-3222-3
Publisher: IEEE
DOI: 10.1109/robosoft55895.2023.10121947

Eat, Test, Digest: Towards Diagnostic Food for Next-Generation Gastrointestinal Tract Monitoring

Author(s): Valerio F. Annese; Valerio Galli; Giulia Coco; Mario Caironi
Published in: 2023 9th International Workshop on Advances in Sensors and Interfaces (IWASI), 2023
Publisher: IEEE
DOI: 10.1109/iwasi58316.2023.10164549

Towards edible drones for rescue missions: design and flight of nutritional wings

Author(s): Bokeon Kwak; Jun Shintake; Lu Zhang; Dario Floreano
Published in: 2022 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), 2022, ISBN 978-1-6654-7927-1
Publisher: IEEE
DOI: 10.1109/iros47612.2022.9981956

Biodegradable Humidity Actuators for Sustainable Soft Robotics using Deliquescent Hydrogels

Author(s): Alexander Keller; Qiukai Qi; Yogeenth Kumaresan; Andrew T. Conn; Jonathan Rossiter
Published in: 2023 IEEE International Conference on Soft Robotics (RoboSoft), 2023
Publisher: IEEE
DOI: 10.1109/robosoft55895.2023.10122093

A Gelatin/Activated Carbon Multifunctional Coating for Future Edible Diagnostic Systems

Author(s): Valerio F. Annese, Giulia Coco, Valerio Galli, Elda Sala, Mario Caironi
Published in: 2024 IEEE SENSORS, 2024, Page(s) 1-4
Publisher: IEEE
DOI: 10.1109/sensors60989.2024.10784659

Design and manufacture of edible microfluidic logic gates

Author(s): Shuhang Zhang; Bokeon Kwak; Dario Floreano
Published in: 2023 IEEE International Conference on Soft Robotics (RoboSoft), 2023
Publisher: IEEE
DOI: 10.1109/robosoft55895.2023.10122039

Edible Electronics and Robofood: A Move Towards Sensors for Edible Robots and Robotic Food

Author(s): Valerio F Annese; Giulia Coco; Valeri Galli; Pietro Cataldi; Mario Caironi
Published in: 2023 IEEE International Conference on Flexible and Printable Sensors and Systems (FLEPS), 2023, Page(s) 1-4
Publisher: IEEE
DOI: 10.1109/FLEPS57599.2023.10220412