Restoring forests is important to the health of our planet, which is why a high school student designed an adorable pangolin-inspired robot to dig holes and “poo” tree seeds.

As a new Atlas reportedThe tree-planting robot is the brainchild of Dorothy, a California high school student, who submitted the idea to the annual natural robotics competition and ended up winning.

The competition, sponsored by the British Ecological Society and organized by the University of Surrey, is open to anyone with an idea for a bioinspired robot that could have a positive impact on the planet. The winning application is then transformed into a real robot by university partners.

The Pangolin robot – aptly named Plantolin – was created by Dr Robert Siddall, a roboticist from the University of Surrey. In a university press releaseDorothy explained that she chose the pangolin, a mammal native to Asia and Africa, because it bury in the earth to find insects and create shelter.

“In my high school classes, we learned how deforestation contributes to climate change“, she explained, which pushed her to turn to nature for solutions.

“Restoring forests by planting more trees is essential for the sustainable development of our planet,” Dorothy following. “Pangolins spend a lot of their time digging in the ground, so I thought a robot planter inspired by pangolin behavior would be very natural.”

The Plantolin has plywood scales covering its “body” and functions similarly to the pangolin.

As a new Atlas explainit moves on two rear wheels, much like pangolins walk on their hind legs. Two electric quadcopter drone motors power the wheels and a long movable tail provides balance. The tail rises when the robot moves and descends to prevent it from falling while it digs.

Two motorized front claws dig, stay locked in place as they scoop up soil, and retract as the legs advance between the shovels. Once the Plantolin digs a hole, it moves into it and “poops” a yew seed bomb, a small pellet of seeds and soil, into space. The bombs are placed in a seed dispenser behind the Plantolin’s head and travel down a conveyor belt to emerge at the back of the robot.

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It’s unclear if more Plantolins will be created to have a bigger impact, but other robots are coming into the picture to help nature in different ways. For example, robot dogs detect invasive fire ants worldwide, and another dog-like robot helps clean up trash from recreational areas. Drones are also used to replant forests After forest firesan essential effort to help cool the planet in the face of our climate change.

“There is room in the world for robots of all sizes that can…fill niches that need to be filled but can’t be filled based on the way we live,” Dr. Siddall said in a press release. YouTube video about the competition.

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