A plant-hybrid system for wind monitoring connected with social media

Abstract

Soft technologies and soft robotics provide solutions for devices that interact with living organisms without harming them. This also includes the development of Soft systems that can directly interact with plants, with no damage for their tissues, e.g, to detect environmental parameters. Here, we propose a biohybrid wind monitoring system in which the plant itself, together with custom-made soft artificial leaves, establish a self-powered environmental sensor for wind. Based on the system's contact/triboelectrification when vibrating in the wind, electrical signals are generated that correlate with the wind speed and plant motion. The self-powered sensor readout is analyzed and processed to send a Twitter notification on a dedicated account (@SensorPlant) when the wind conditions change. This proof-of-concept study aims as a platform to realize plant-hybrid devices for wind sensing. It is furthermore an example for a soft biohybrid system that records and communicates real-life data autonomously from the plant-level. The system can be customized to many necessities, e.g., it can send a notification when wind increases to the level that could damage the plants in that area. This could have future implications as sustainable, straightforward sensors for agriculture and climate monitoring.