Towards edible robots and robotic food

Edible robots and robotic food — edible systems that perceive, process and act upon stimulation — could open a new range of opportunities in health care, environmental management and the promotion of healthier eating habits. For example, they could enable precise drug delivery and in vivo health monitoring, deliver autonomously targeted nutrition in emergency situations, reduce waste in farming, facilitate wild animal vaccination and produce novel gastronomical experiences. Here, we take a robot designer perspective to identify edible materials that could serve as functional components of edible robots and robotic food, such as bodies, actuators, sensors, and computational components and energy sources, describe recent examples of integration, and discuss the open challenges in the field. Edible robots and robotic food that perceive, process and react to stimuli offer opportunities to develop new medical applications, emergency food-delivery systems, waste-reduction strategies in farming and novel gastronomic experiences. This Perspective surveys edible materials that can be used to manufacture robotic components and discusses examples of edible robots and robotic food.