Robotic Forests

Much of the research into human-robot interaction has focused on anthropomorphic and zoomorphic forms, designing robots to look and act like humans or animals. Instead, our group explored plant-inspired forms, designing mobile pots, leaves that wave, and stems that bow. Our work was published in the ACM conference for Human-Robot Interaction (HRI'26), and received an honorable mention for best design paper.

Design Primitives

We began by identifying four fundamental plant forms — leaves, stems, flowers, and pots — and treating them as design primitives that could scaffold exploration of behavioral expression. I focused on the mechanical and expressive design of pots and leaves.

Leaf

Each leaf is additively manufactured in TPU to exploit its flexibility. A central spine with triangular wedge segments biases the leaf into a naturally curled state. An actuation string runs from base to tip: pulling it flattens the wedge segments and straightens the leaf; releasing it allows the elastic base to recover, returning it to its curl. This mechanism supports gestures such as wilting, perking, and unfurling across a range of shapes and scales.

Pots

Pots were designed not only as containers but as expressive surfaces — varied in size, shape, color, and material (PLA, TPU, PET-G) to manage heat, enable rotation, or drive locomotion.

Prototypes

I prototyped two of our group's devices: a mobile pot that waves hello, with actuated leaves, and a stationary plant that reminds you to take your medications on a fixed schedule, sensing when you've completed the task and rewarding you with a friendly bounce.