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A robot that can grow around trees or rocks like a vine plant could be used to make buildings or measure pollution in hard-to-reach natural environments. Vine-like robots are not new, but they are often designed to rely on just a single sense to grow upwards, such as heat or light, which means they don’t work as well in some environments as others. Researchers at the Italian Institute of Technology have developed a vine-like robot, called FiloBot, that can use light, shade or gravity as a guide. It grows by coiling a plastic filament into a cylindrical shape, adding new layers to its body just behind the head containing the sensors. Learn more ➤ Subscribe ➤ Get more from New Scientist: Official website: Facebook: Twitter: Instagram: LinkedIn: About New Scientist: New Scientist was founded in 1956 for “all those interested in scientific discovery and its social consequences”. Today our website, videos, newsletters, app, podcast and print magazine cover the world’s most important, exciting and entertaining science news as well as asking the big-picture questions about life, the universe, and what it means to be human. New Scientist
