ELLIE - Exteroceptive Light Locomotion in Eukaryote-Fungi

<p> Over the past decade, fungal research and its technological applications have expanded across multiple disciplines, including the emerging field of biohybrid systems. This thesis develops and evaluates a wireless, untethered mobile robot controlled by the action potential-like activity generated by <em>Pleurotus ostreatus </em>sporocarps under red, green, and blue optical stimulation. Light is applied to the sporocarps, the resulting electrical responses are recorded, and these signals are transmitted wirelessly to actuate the mobile robot. Both the action potential-like activity patterns and the robot’s movement trajectories were analyzed. The results demonstrate that wireless robotic control mediated by fungal electrophysiology is feasible. Overall, the findings expand current knowledge of fungal electrophysiological responses under visible‑light stimulation and illustrate the feasibility of incorporating these responses into mobile robotic control frameworks. The work contributes methodological tools, identifies key experimental considerations, and provides a basis for further development of fungal biohybrid systems.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis - Open Access

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Mechanical Engineering

Year

2026

Author dc:creator

• Etwarroo, Brandon

• Fungi
• Sporocarps
• Pleurotus ostreatus
• Optical Stimulation
• Light
• Biohybrid Systems
• Robotics
• Mobile Robots
• Potential-like Activity
• Electrophysiology
• Biotechnology
• Other Mechanical Engineering
• Signal Processing

Repository record dc:identifier

https://commons.erau.edu/edt/973

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:commons.erau.edu:edt-2022