Selection of optimal growth substrates for fungi.
FUNGAR project aims to develop a fully integrated structural and computational substrate using living fungal mycelium for the purpose of growing sentient architecture. In this context few fungal strains will be combined with different types of substrates and bioprocessing techniques. We provide a selection and best combination of raw materials derived from agroindustrial activities including miscanthus,rice straw, hemp shives, and substrates, such as spent coffee grounds, soybean hulls and rice husks. The evaluation considers the impact of such combination on fungal growth, contamination risk, nutrition content, biological and mechanical properties of biofabricated composite materials, costs and logistics features. Hemp shives+coffee grounds and hemp shives + soybean hulls as best performing combination.
Automated scaffold production
This task reported on here targets the development of automated methods for producing sparse Kagome woven stay-in-place formwork/reinforcement scaffolds. These scaffolds are a central component of the FUNGAR construction methodology as outlined in the description of work. To achieve spatial enclosures and maximise design potentials, the scaffolds need to exhibit complex 3D morphologies comprising double curvature, branching and fusing. Automating the production of these morphologies will significantly extend the state-of-the-art in technical textile production. Collaborative industrial robots have been used for production. Robotic instructions and path planning have been developed from high resolution weave representations of target geometries using Medial Construction and mesh relaxation methods to ensure geometries are producible from straight strips of material. In addition, we have developed a custom Mesh Topology Adjustment Scheme (MTAS) for automating mesh topology adjustment in digital design contexts. Bespoke robotic proof-of-concept end-effectors have been successfully developed to accomplish the weaving task.
Computing and sending with fungi
The tasks reported on here targets establishing communication protocols with mycelium network. We designed and implemented an experimental setup for recording electrical activity of fungi in a controlled environment. We studied spontaneous discharges, (ir)regularly oscillating potential, particularly distinguishing patterns of spontaneous activity formed by a single spike of electrical potential and different types of bursts according to intra-burst ring frequency. Key findings are as following. Oyster fungi Pleurotus djamor generate action potential like spikes of electrical potential. The trains of spikes manifest propagation of growing mycelium in a substrate, transportation of nutrients and metabolites and communication processes in the mycelium network. We propose original techniques for detecting and classifying the spiking activity of fungi. Using these techniques, we analyse the information-theoretic complexity of the fungal electrical activity. The results pave ways for future research on sensorial fusion and decision making of fungi
