However, the systems currently emerging around the world under the term “edible robotics” are being discussed seriously rather than ridiculed. This is because it is becoming increasingly apparent that this unusual form of robotics is not only scientifically fascinating, but also economically relevant.

Edible robots, whose components are made entirely of edible or biodegradable materials, are gradually developing into a technology that opens up new possibilities in medicine and the food industry as well as in manufacturing and the environmental sector. Several projects are currently underway that demonstrate how concrete this once visionary field of research has become.

The chocolate side of robots

Researchers define edible robots as robotic systems whose structure, drive, sensors, and, if possible, energy supply are made of edible or completely biodegradable materials. Gelatin can replace elastic plastics, puffed rice and rice cakes serve as lightweight carrier structures, and chocolate or sugar solutions are repurposed as components of batteries and conductor tracks.

Dancing gummy bears as harbingers

The new technology first attracted widespread attention with the robotic wedding cake “RoboCake” from the EU project RoboFood, which was presented a few months ago in the Swiss pavilion at the Expo 2025 world exhibition in Osaka. Gummy bear figures moved on it, powered by completely edible actuators. The energy came from rechargeable batteries made from dark chocolate, which were integrated into the cake. The recipe for the high-tech cake comes from the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) and its partners, who developed “RoboCake” explicitly as a demonstrator to show that complex functions such as movement, lighting, and energy supply can be realized with food.

On the way to industrially relevant applications

An edible water robot, also presented by a team from EPFL this year, is much closer to industrially relevant applications. The boat-shaped device, measuring just a few centimeters, consists of pressed fish food and other food-grade components. It is powered by a chemical reaction between citric acid and sodium bicarbonate, which produces carbon dioxide. This utilizes the same effect—known as the mahogany effect—that some water insects use to move across the water's surface. A chemical reaction in a tiny, removable chamber produces carbon dioxide gas, which flows into a fuel channel and pushes out the fuel. The resulting sudden reduction in water surface tension propels the robot. “While the development of miniaturized swimming robots for natural environments has made rapid progress, they are typically based on plastics, batteries, and other electronics, which poses a challenge for mass deployment in sensitive ecosystems,” says EPFL doctoral student Shuhang Zhang. “In this work, we show how these materials can be replaced with fully biodegradable and edible components.” Zhang and a team from the Intelligent Systems Laboratory led by Dario Floreano at the School of Engineering presented their work in Nature Communications. This mini-robot is intended as a platform for environmental measurements in lakes, ponds, or aquaculture. In the future, edible, biodegradable sensors could be used to measure water parameters such as pH, temperature, and pollutant levels. If the robot is not collected, it does not become electronic waste, but is eaten by fish and even serves as a source of nutrients.

Measuring growth processes or deformations

Back in 2023 and 2024, EPFL, the University of Bristol, and the Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia presented a sprayable, electrically conductive edible ink. It consists of activated carbon as a conductor, Haribo gummy bears as a binder, and a water-ethanol mixture as a solvent. Sprayed onto food or edible substrates, this layer functions as a strain sensor and can, for example, measure growth processes or deformations without having to be removed. Such materials form the basis for edible robots to become more than just fun gimmicks, enabling them to perform measurable and controllable functions. The EPFL and other groups have also demonstrated edible grippers made of gelatin that can grasp delicate foods and then be either discarded or consumed, as well as edible sensor films made of gelatin and activated carbon that could be used in medical diagnostics or environmental monitoring.

Three areas of industrial relevance

The industrial relevance of edible robots lies primarily in three areas: Firstly, in food and beverage production, where edible sensors could be used directly in dough, beverage streams, or fermentation tanks to precisely monitor temperature, pH, or fermentation without having to filter foreign objects out of the product afterwards. Secondly, in environmental monitoring, as demonstrated by the fish feed robot: it allows measurement campaigns in sensitive ecosystems without leaving disposable electronics in the water. Thirdly, edible or at least largely edible systems are interesting for logistics and disaster relief, for example in the form of drones that bring food to remote regions and are themselves part of the rations – even if that sounds a little far-fetched at first. However, all these examples show that “edible robots” are no longer just theory. Whether it's dancing gummy bears on a wedding cake in Osaka, fish-friendly measuring boats made of feed pellets, or rice cake drones for rescue missions: the projects have been documented, tested, and published in scientific journals. At the same time, researchers make no secret of the fact that a completely edible robot with complex electronics remains a challenge. Especially when it comes to power supply and computing units, there are still no edible alternatives to traditional batteries and chips.

Edible robotics combines sustainability, safety, and functionality

Nevertheless, there are growing indications that these early prototypes could develop into a technology class of their own. Edible robotics combines sustainability, safety, and functionality and opens up unusual perspectives: from self-dissolving inspection robots in pipelines to edible sensors in food and feed to robotic “smart foods” that react interactively to their environment. The current, well-documented demonstrators are therefore not just curiosities, but building blocks of a type of robotics that is literally easier to digest – for the environment, industry and, in extreme cases, even for ourselves.