Giovanna Adele Naselli

Abstract Annulus cells of fern sporangia spontaneously deform driven by water transpiration and cavitation, resulting in the peculiar macroscale catapult-like movement of the sporangium. Annulus cells' behavior, if artificially replicated, can inspire a novel class of fast actuators composed of annulus-mimicking units. However, the transpiration and cavitation-driven dynamics observed in annulus cells is never reproduced.

Abstract Supplementary Materials REFERENCES AND NOTES Abstract Biomimetic machines able to integrate with natural and social environments will find ubiquitous applications, from biodiversity conservation to elderly daily care. Although artificial actuators have reached the contraction performances of muscles, the versatility and grace of the movements realized by the complex arrangements of muscles remain largely unmatched.

Information Published In Science Robotics Volume 7 | Issue 68 July 2022 Copyright Copyright © 2022 The Authors, some rights reserved; exclusive licensee American Association for the Advancement of Science. No claim to original U.S. Government Works. This is an article distributed under the terms of the Science Journals Default License. Submission history Received: 24 November 2021 Accepted: 29 June 2022 Permissions Request permissions for this article. Acknowledgments We thank our colleagues A.