Liyana Popova

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Ajar Nath Yadav

INTI Interntional University

Timothy D . Akpenpuun, PhD

University of Ilorin

David Munns

John Jay College of Criminal Justice

Roonal Kataria

University of Mumbai

Rob G J M van der Lans

TU Delft

Nobody Wasfaster

University of Houston

Pitam Chandra (SET Professor)

Sharda University

Matheus Heita Namidi

University of Namibia

Κωνσταντίνος Κουκουβίνος

University of West Attica / Πανεπιστήμιο Δυτικής Αττικής

Alex Esteban

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Papers by Liyana Popova

AstroBio-CubeSat: A lab-in-space for chemiluminescence-based astrobiology experiments

Biosensors and Bioelectronics

System Prototype

Figure (a) shows a picture of the root-like growing device. In the deposition head, a de... more Figure (a) shows a picture of the root-like growing device. In the deposition head, a decoupled flat tip is assembled in order to eliminate any drilling effect in the penetration process. Figures (b) and (c) show the top and side views, respectively, of the device at the initiation of the mature zone. From the spool (not shown), the filament is drawn by the motor through the filament entrance into the nozzle. The locking wires are spring steel and prevent relative rotational movement between the tubular body and the mature zone.</p

Plant root structures and functions

Figure (a) illustrates plant root structures and their functions. Four main regions can ... more Figure (a) illustrates plant root structures and their functions. Four main regions can be identified, each with different roles. New cells are created by mitosis in the meristematic region (MR). These cells are then elongated by osmotic pressure and move to the elongation region (ER). Cell division and cell elongation provide the force to penetrate into the soil; asymmetries with respect to the root axis results in bending. The mature root consists of elongated cells that are stationary and provide a strong anchor to the soil, thus supporting tip penetration. Root cap cells exude mucilage and slough off, which decreases friction during penetration by lubricating the surrounding soil. Figure (b) shows images of an actual maize (Zea mays) root; the images were captured with a digital microscope (HIROX KH-7700). Specifically, image I is a two-week old maize root growing in soil, in which the primary root, the lateral roots and several seminal roots can be observed. Image II shows the mature region of the primary root with visible root hairs. Image III shows the apex of the primary root with a distinguishable root cap. Image IV shows the root cap of the primary root with sloughed cells visible around it.</p

Force diagram for overcoming soil resistance

a) Schematic top view and side view of the growing mechanism. Red arrows represent force... more a) Schematic top view and side view of the growing mechanism. Red arrows represent forces acting on the system during the deposition process: F is the force applied by the motor and W is the vertical resistance during penetration, where M is the torque required for the deposition head (shown in Fig. 3b) to overcome W, d is the thickness of the filament and D is the external diameter of the tubular body b) Equilibrium of forces acting on the filament for one complete turn unwound, where α is the angle made by the helix of the deposited filament with respect to a plane perpendicular to the axis of the tubular body, N is the reaction force, and μ is the friction coefficient between filament and deposition head.</p

Elongation from the tip (EFT) process during three following steps of growth

The colors indicate the movement of cells from the MR to the mature root and sloughing; ... more

Schematic of the experimental setup for soil penetration with and without elongation from the tip (EFT and NoEFT, respectively)

Figure (a) shows the setup for the evaluation of the energy required in the EFT tests, a... more Figure (a) shows the setup for the evaluation of the energy required in the EFT tests, at the beginning (on the left) and at the end (on the right) of a soil penetration trial. In the initial position, the device is positioned in the soil. The growing zone (GZ) is placed at depth h0 (h0 = 100, 150, 200 mm), and the mature zone (MZ) is fixed to a holding structure (HS). The GZ adds new material at the tip, thus increasing the MZ length until it penetrates a total of Δh (30 mm). Figure (b) shows the setup for the evaluation of the energy required in the NoEFT tests, at the beginning (on the left) and at the end (on the right) of a soil penetration trial. In the initial position, a probe (F, light grey) with the same dimensions and geometric properties as the prototype is positioned at depth h0 in the soil (h0 = 100, 150, 200 mm). The prototype is attached to the HS and pushes the probe from the top. The GZ generated the vertical (penetration) force in both the EFT and NoEFT trials in order to have comparable results.</p

Energy consumption of the root-like device prototype in EFT and NoEFT penetration trials

Figure (a) shows the energy required for penetrating 30 mm of artificial soil (POM granu... more

Deposition process and growth of the root-like device

The figure shows the sequence of the growth process. By rotating the deposition head (DH... more

Robot Design

Figure (a) gives a schematic representation of the cross section of the root-like device... more Figure (a) gives a schematic representation of the cross section of the root-like device that grows from the tip. The functional zones are the growing zone (GZ), the mature zone (MZ), the robotic tip (RT), and the spool (S) with the filament. The growing zone imitates the meristematic region in living plant roots; the GZ exerts an axial force on the robotic tip by adding new material. The mature zone is created by the layer-by-layer addition of material (the filament) and is stationary with respect to the soil. The hollow structure of the MZ allows the passage of the filament (new material) from the spool to the growing zone. Figure (b) shows the 3D design of the growing zone. The filament of new material passes through the filament entrance and the nozzle (located on the deposition head) to the external side of the tubular body between the rim and the previous layer of the mature zone. The rotation of the deposition head with respect to the tubular body, generated by the motor through the transmission mechanism, results in the deposition process that builds the mature zone. The motor receives power through brushes in contact with slip rings. During soil penetration, the growing zone slips inside the mature zone; any rotational movement between the two zones is suppressed by the locking wires.</p

Root growth dynamics of young plants as monitored by Magnetic Resonance Imaging

AstroBio CubeSat: operational design of a CubeSat for astrobiological purposes in radiative environment

<jats:p>&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;strong&amp;gt;Introduction&amp;lt;/str... more <jats:p>&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;strong&amp;gt;Introduction&amp;lt;/strong&amp;gt;&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt; &amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Astrobiology is an interdisciplinary field covered by only a few CubeSat missions so far. Moreover, no CubeSat mission has ever mounted miniaturized technology for the purpose of searching for molecular evidences of life in space.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt; &amp;lt;p&amp;gt;AstroBio CubeSat (ABCS) is a 3U CubeSat selected by the European Space Agency (ESA) to be launched in spring 2022 with the Vega C maiden flight, as piggy back passenger of the ASI LARES2 mission. ABCS will host a payload assembly based on Lab-on-Chip (LoC) technology for biomarkers detection and will be deployed along a circular orbit with altitude of about 5900 km and inclination of 7&amp;amp;#176;, therefore crossing the inner Van Allen belt where the radiation flux is close to its maximum. Due to the harsh environment, ABCS payload and subsystems will be likely exposed to damages and degradations of electronics and performances, thus the payload assembly and the operational architecture were designed to be as much dependable as possible. This approach should constitute the first step to implement a mature technology with the aim to check the stability of chemicals and biomolecules involved in space experiments.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt; &amp;lt;p&amp;gt;This work reports an overview of ABCS architecture and the approach chosen for its operational design.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt; &amp;lt;p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;strong&amp;gt;ABCS Architecture&amp;lt;/strong&amp;gt;&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt; &amp;lt;p&amp;gt;ABCS objective is to test in space an automatic in-situ multiparameter LoC [1], which exploits luminol injection and enzymatic bio-mimicking assays on a functionalized 3D wax-printed origami. Luminol will be transported by capillarity to reaction sites with immobilized biomolecules targets where the reactions will trigger chemiluminescence, detected by means of hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) photodiodes deposited on a borosilicate glass substrate and connected to a photocurrent readout board [2]. &amp;amp;#160;The described payload consists in an experiment board hosting the LoC and a support board containing peristaltic pumps for luminol injection, drivers for pumps, radiation field effect transistors (RADFETs) and pressure/temperature sensors. The LoC architecture allows to repeat the experiment up to six times.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt; &amp;lt;p&amp;gt;In addition to RADFETs, ABCS mounts an ancillary radiation dose sensor (ARDS), developed by Thales Alenia Space, with the aim to assess the radiation effects. The ARDS is able to measure different amounts of current, until its failure, depending on the dose acquired.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt; &amp;lt;p&amp;gt;To mitigate the effects of the expected very high flux of charged particles, an extra tungsten layer shielding was mounted on each side panel and all the main subsystems (experiment and support board, batteries and EPS board, on-board computer (OBC), telemetry, tracking and control board), were placed inside a 5 mm thick aluminium box. At the same time, to keep the temperature range (from 4&amp;amp;#176;C to 20&amp;amp;#176;C) and operative pressure (about 1 atm) required to allow the LoC capillarity effect and to prevent reagents degradation, the box was sealed and a thermal control system, composed by a multi-layer insulation and an active heather mounted inside the box, was implemented.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt; &amp;lt;p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;strong&amp;gt;ABCS Mission Design&amp;lt;/strong&amp;gt;&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt; &amp;lt;p&amp;gt;ABCS will be deployed in an approximately circular orbit at about 5900 km altitude and 70&amp;amp;#176; of inclination, spending a significant amount of the orbital period within the inner Van Allen belt, very close to its radiation peak point.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt; &amp;lt;p&amp;gt;ABCS ground operations will be mainly performed from the School of Aerospace Engineering (SIA) Ground Station. Simulations show that SIA will have access to ABCS 4 times a day, with an average duration of about 65 minutes. For this reason, a network of radioamateurs and third part ground stations will be involved for supporting the collection of the telemetry and science data packages and possibly uplink commands.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt; &amp;lt;p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;strong&amp;gt;ABCS Operations&amp;lt;/strong&amp;gt;&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt; &amp;lt;p&amp;gt;The assumption we made is that ABCS should be able to perform the payload operations in a completely autonomous manner. As we know, radiation flux will most likely induce several errors on electronics and performances, causing potential mission failure due to the fact that payload operations may not start because the OBC fails to send the command to start the experiment. A possible way to reduce failure is to perform ABCS experiments where the proton flux is lower. Simulations shows that this happens when ABCS is at polar latitudes, namely outside the range…

AstroBio CubeSat: a nanosatellite for space astrobiology experiments

IntroductionAstroBio CubeSat (ABCS) is a... more IntroductionAstroBio CubeSat (ABCS) is an Italian Space Agency (ASI) 3U CubeSat (100x100x340 mm) selected by European Space Agency (ESA) to be launched with the Vega C qualification maiden flight, as piggy back of the ASI LARES2 main satellite, by the end of 2020. ABCS will be deployed in an approximately circular orbit, with about 5900 km altitude and 70&#176; of inclination. It implies that ABCS will spend a significant part of the orbital period within the internal Van Allen belt, close to its maximum. The radiation environment is characterized by a very high flux of charged particles, which have a significant effect on electronic components in terms of permanent damages due to accumulated dose effects and single events. Considering the extremely harsh space conditions, the estimated mission lifetime useful to perform the payload experiments should be defined in 3 months.<img…

Tissue Repair and Regeneration in Space and on Earth

Frontiers in Physiology, 2018

Plant root tortuosity: an indicator of root path formation in soil with different composition and density

Annals of Botany, 2016

Background and Aims Root soil penetration and path optimization are fundamental for root developm... more Background and Aims Root soil penetration and path optimization are fundamental for root development in soil. We describe the influence of soil strength on root elongation rate and diameter, response to gravity, and rootstructure tortuosity, estimated by average curvature of primary maize roots. Methods Soils with different densities (1Á5, 1Á6, 1Á7 g cm À3), particle sizes (sandy loam; coarse sand mixed with sandy loam) and layering (monolayer, bilayer) were used. In total, five treatments were performed: Mix_low with mixed sand low density (three pots, 12 plants), Mix_medium-mixed sand medium density (three pots, 12 plants), Mix_high-mixed sand high density (three pots, ten plants), Loam_low sandy loam soil low density (four pots, 16 plants), and Bilayer with top layer of sandy loam and bottom layer mixed sand both of low density (four pots, 16 plants). We used non-invasive three-dimensional magnetic resonance imaging to quantify effects of these treatments. Key Results Roots grew more slowly [root growth rate (mm h-1); decreased 50 %] with increased diameters [root diameter (mm); increased 15 %] in denser soils (1Á7 vs. 1Á5 g cm-3). Root response to gravity decreased 23 % with increased soil compaction, and tortuosity increased 10 % in mixed sand. Response to gravity increased 39 % and tortuosity decreased 3 % in sandy loam. After crossing a bilayered-soil interface, roots grew more slowly, similar to roots grown in soil with a bulk density of 1Á64 g cm-3 , whereas the actual experimental density was 1Á4860Á02 g cm-3. Elongation rate and tortuosity were higher in Mix_low than in Loam_low. Conclusions The present study increases our existing knowledge of the influence of physical soil properties on root growth and presents new assays for studying root growth dynamics in non-transparent media. We found that root tortuosity is indicative of root path selection, because it could result from both mechanical deflection and active root growth in response to touch stimulation and mechanical impedance.

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Unveiling the kinematics of the avoidance response in maize (Zen mays) primary roots

Biologia, 2016

Living roots grow in soil, which is a heterogeneous environment containing a wide variety of phys... more Living roots grow in soil, which is a heterogeneous environment containing a wide variety of physical barriers. Roots must avoid these barriers to grow: first, they adopt a characteristic S-shape that can be described by the angle between the root tip and the barrier (i.e., the tip-to-barrier angle); then, they move parallel to the barrier by keeping the sensitive tip in contact with the barrier until it has been circumvented. We investigated this avoidance response in the primary roots of maize (We measured the root tip orientation during growth by using time-lapse imaging and specially developed tip-tracking software (9 trials for each value of the barrier orientation). Remarkably, we found that the S-shapes formed by the roots were characterized by the same tip-to-barrier angle regardless of the barrier orientation: namely, 21.96 ± 2.97, 21.48 ± 4.75 and 20.81 ± 9.39 degrees for barriers oriented at 45, 60 and 90 degrees, respectively. We also considered the root growth after byp...

Analysis and characterization of a robotic probe inspired by the plant root apex

2012 4th IEEE RAS & EMBS International Conference on Biomedical Robotics and Biomechatronics (BioRob), 2012

²Plant roots represent an amazing source of inspiration for designing and developing dexterous, b... more ²Plant roots represent an amazing source of inspiration for designing and developing dexterous, branching robots capable of efficient soil exploration in various scenarios, from environmental monitoring to space exploration. The natural roots, in fact, have optimally evolved to efficiently penetrate and move into the soil. In this work, starting from the study of the plant roots penetration capabilities, we defined the optimal tip shape and the penetration rate of a robotic root apex, by evaluating the penetration resistance to different types of granular substrates. The results showed that the conical and parabolic tips with a pointed shape, similar to the apex tip of the living roots, are more efficient in terms of penetration resistance. The penetration resistance of the robotic root apex results similar to that observed in natural roots. Moreover, we identified the optimal penetration rate of the root-like robotic system as 40 mm/min. I. INTRODUCTION LANTS have evolved very robust growth behaviors to respond to changes in their environment and a network of branching roots, whose tips (apices) are highly sensorized and efficiently explore the soil volume, mining minerals, and up-taking water to fulfill their primary functions [1]. Development of novel principles inspired by plant roots for penetration, sensory detection, and autonomous decision making could open up new horizons in robotics: autonomous agents able to localize a subsoil source could be used in order to find water and other relevant substances, or to detect the presence of dangerous pollutants and minimize the soil contamination. These robotic autonomous systems may find many applications in different scenarios, such as environmental monitoring, efficient and sustainable agriculture, localizing hidden explosives, automatic humanitarian demining, rescue tasks after accidents or natural disasters, or space explorations. A first prototype of a novel robotic system (Fig. 1) for soil exploration, inspired by the apex of the plant roots, was recently developed [2]. The mechatronic design of this prototype is inspired by the plant root capabilities to manage and integrate the multiple environmental signals in an optimal way without any brain-like structure.

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Robotic mechanism for soil penetration inspired by plant root

2013 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, 2013

ABSTRACT In this paper we propose a soil penetration robotic system inspired by low friction pene... more ABSTRACT In this paper we propose a soil penetration robotic system inspired by low friction penetration strategies in plant roots. Growth of cells at the root tip deforms soil, while sloughing cells in the cap create an interface between root and soil to reduce root-soil friction during penetration. A simple prototype, inspired by these root features and based on a tubular shaft and a soft continuum skin, was developed. The skin is kept inside the shaft and slips out and slides on its external body. This outward movement of the skin opens the soil in front of the tip and helps the system to penetrate. The skin covering the external body of shaft imitates the role of sloughing cells and provides low-friction interface between soil and shaft. Interaction between the external skin and soil gives to the system self-anchorage capabilities for the penetration. The performances of our robotic system were characterized during penetration in granular soils. The skin-soil interaction was found to be fundamental for 1) displacing the soil in front of the tip and 2) preventing backward movements of the robot by anchoring the posterior body to the soil. In order to exploit these effects some artificial hairs were added along the skin. The increased hair density (0.012 hairs/mm2) resulted in higher penetration depth of robot (about 30%).

Embodied Behavior of Plant Roots in Obstacle Avoidance

Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 2013

ABSTRACT Plant roots are a new paradigm for soft robotics. Study of embodied behavior in roots ma... more ABSTRACT Plant roots are a new paradigm for soft robotics. Study of embodied behavior in roots may lead to the implementation of movements guided by structural deformations and to the use of sensors and actuators as body parts. In this work the obstacle avoidance in roots and its interplay with the gravitropism were studied both from biological and robotic viewpoint. Living roots resulted to achieve the maximum pushing force on an obstacle before starting circumnavigation (30 mN in 100 min), thus indicating the existence of a triggering threshold. Tip-to-obstacle angle (20°) was not influenced by the gravity. A robotic mockup capable to bend like living roots was build on the basis of current knowledge and our results on obstacle avoidance behavior. Exploitation of morphological features and passive body deformation resulted to be useful for implementing a simplified control of the robot during gravitropism and obstacle avoidance.

Plant Root Strategies for Robotic Soil Penetration

Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 2013

ABSTRACT Soil penetration strategies of plant roots can represent an interesting source of inspir... more ABSTRACT Soil penetration strategies of plant roots can represent an interesting source of inspiration for designing explorer robots. In this work we present a selection of these strategies whose performances were discussed and evaluated by means of engineering mock-ups and dedicated experiments in granular substrates. The obtained results demonstrated that root elongation from the tip reduces the forces needed for soil penetration up to 50%; tip morphology and anchorage resulted to strongly influence penetration performances.

A Novel Growing Device Inspired by Plant Root Soil Penetration Behaviors

PLoS ONE, 2014

Moving in an unstructured environment such as soil requires approaches that are constrained by th... more Moving in an unstructured environment such as soil requires approaches that are constrained by the physics of this complex medium and can ensure energy efficiency and minimize friction while exploring and searching. Among living organisms, plants are the most efficient at soil exploration, and their roots show remarkable abilities that can be exploited in artificial systems. Energy efficiency and friction reduction are assured by a growth process wherein new cells are added at the root apex by mitosis while mature cells of the root remain stationary and in contact with the soil. We propose a new concept of root-like growing robots that is inspired by these plant root features. The device penetrates soil and develops its own structure using an additive layering technique: each layer of new material is deposited adjacent to the tip of the device. This deposition produces both a motive force at the tip and a hollow tubular structure that extends to the surface of the soil and is strongly anchored to the soil. The addition of material at the tip area facilitates soil penetration by omitting peripheral friction and thus decreasing the energy consumption down to 70% comparing with penetration by pushing into the soil from the base of the penetration system. The tubular structure provides a path for delivering materials and energy to the tip of the system and for collecting information for exploratory tasks.

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AstroBio-CubeSat: A lab-in-space for chemiluminescence-based astrobiology experiments

Biosensors and Bioelectronics

System Prototype

Plant root structures and functions

Force diagram for overcoming soil resistance

Elongation from the tip (EFT) process during three following steps of growth

The colors indicate the movement of cells from the MR to the mature root and sloughing; ... more

Schematic of the experimental setup for soil penetration with and without elongation from the tip (EFT and NoEFT, respectively)

Energy consumption of the root-like device prototype in EFT and NoEFT penetration trials

Figure (a) shows the energy required for penetrating 30 mm of artificial soil (POM granu... more

Deposition process and growth of the root-like device

The figure shows the sequence of the growth process. By rotating the deposition head (DH... more

Robot Design

Root growth dynamics of young plants as monitored by Magnetic Resonance Imaging

AstroBio CubeSat: operational design of a CubeSat for astrobiological purposes in radiative environment

AstroBio CubeSat: a nanosatellite for space astrobiology experiments

Tissue Repair and Regeneration in Space and on Earth

Frontiers in Physiology, 2018

Plant root tortuosity: an indicator of root path formation in soil with different composition and density

Annals of Botany, 2016

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Unveiling the kinematics of the avoidance response in maize (Zen mays) primary roots

Biologia, 2016

Analysis and characterization of a robotic probe inspired by the plant root apex

2012 4th IEEE RAS & EMBS International Conference on Biomedical Robotics and Biomechatronics (BioRob), 2012

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Robotic mechanism for soil penetration inspired by plant root

2013 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, 2013

Embodied Behavior of Plant Roots in Obstacle Avoidance

Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 2013

Plant Root Strategies for Robotic Soil Penetration

Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 2013

A Novel Growing Device Inspired by Plant Root Soil Penetration Behaviors

PLoS ONE, 2014

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