Mycorrhizal Fungi and Plant Symbiosis for Energy Harvesting in the Internet of Plants

TL;DR

This paper explores plant communication networks and introduces an architecture that harnesses mycorrhizal fungi-plant symbiosis to convert chemical energy into electrical energy for potential energy harvesting applications.

Contribution

It presents a novel architecture leveraging fungi-plant symbiosis to convert biochemical energy into electrical energy, advancing bioenergy harvesting methods.

Findings

The proposed architecture effectively converts glucose into electrical energy.

Comprehensive analysis validates the energy harvesting potential of the system.

The study enhances understanding of plant-fungi communication for bioenergy applications.

Abstract

Biological entities in nature have developed sophisticated communication methods over millennia to facilitate cooperation. Among these entities, plants are some of the most intricate communicators. They interact with each other through various communication modalities, creating networks that enable the exchange of information and nutrients. In this paper, we explore this collective behavior and its components. We then introduce the concept of agent plants, outlining their architecture and detailing the tasks of each unit. Additionally, we investigate the mycorrhizal fungi-plant symbiosis to extract glucose for energy harvesting. We propose an architecture that converts the chemical energy stored in these glucose molecules into electrical energy. We conduct comprehensive analyses of the proposed architecture to validate its effectiveness.