Towards enduring autonomous robots via embodied energy

Aubin, Cameron A.; Gorissen, Benjamin; Milana, Edoardo; Buskohl, Philip R.; Lazarus, Nathan; Slipher, Geoffrey A.; Keplinger, Christoph; Bongard, Josh; Iida, Fumiya; Lewis, Jennifer A.; Shepherd, Robert F.

doi:10.1038/s41586-021-04138-2

Cited by 129 publications

(88 citation statements)

References 146 publications

(150 reference statements)

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“…Our results stand in contrast to more traditional microrobotic approaches focusing on the design of intricate electromechanical assemblies to produce alternating electrical currents [22]. By relying on our system's self-organized behaviours, we circumvented the design of complex contraptions to harvest and transduce chemical energy into periodic electrical and mechanical worka crucial step towards fully-autonomous microrobots [75,76]. The use of on-board electrical currents will enable the integration of sensors and computational elements to enrich microparticle interactions [77], forming the basis for future collectives wherein complex inter-particle communication can be implemented.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 90%

“…Importantly, the same chemical energy harnessed from the environment is used to simultaneously drive the mechanical oscillation, generate the electrical voltage, and modulate the electrical conductance. Multifunctionality of this kind is emblematic of emerging paradigms such as embodied energy [75], and is crucial to the development of efficient microsystems.…”

Section: Self-oscillating Microgeneratorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Emergent Microrobotic Oscillators via Asymmetry-Induced Order

Yang¹,

Berrueta²,

Brooks³

et al. 2022

Preprint

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Spontaneous low-frequency oscillations on the order of several hertz are the drivers of many crucial processes in nature [1][2][3][4]. From bacterial swimming [5, 6] to mammal gaits [7, 8], the conversion of static energy inputs into slowly oscillating electrical and mechanical power is key to the autonomy of organisms across scales [9][10][11][12]. However, the fabrication of slow artificial oscillators at micrometre scales remains a major roadblock [13][14][15][16] towards the development of fully-autonomous microrobots [17][18][19][20]. Here, we report the emergence of a lowfrequency relaxation oscillator from a simple collective of active microparticles interacting at the air-liquid interface of a hydrogen peroxide drop. Their collective oscillations form chemomechanical [21] and electrochemical [22] limit cycles that enable the transduction of ambient chemical energy into periodic mechanical motion and on-board electrical currents. Surprisingly, the collective can oscillate robustly even as more particles are introduced, but only when we add a single particle with modified reactivity to intentionally break the system's permutation symmetry [23]. We explain such emergent order through a novel thermodynamic mechanism for asymmetry-induced order [24, 25]. The energy harvested from the stabilized oscillations enables the use of on-board electronic components, which we demonstrate by cyclically and synchronously driving a microrobotic arm [26][27][28]. This work highlights a new strategy for achieving low-frequency oscillations at the microscale that are otherwise difficult to observe outside of natural systems, paving the way for future microrobotic autonomy.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 90%

Section: Self-oscillating Microgeneratorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Emergent Microrobotic Oscillators via Asymmetry-Induced Order

Yang¹,

Berrueta²,

Brooks³

et al. 2022

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…In comparison to the pouch film, the DIW-printed packaging layer conformally sealed the SC, thereby preserving the initial starshaped form factor. More notably, the apparent volume of the SC with the DIW-printed packaging layer was lower (2.07 cm 3 ) compared to that of the SC with the pouch film (2.21 cm 3 ), thereby contributing to an increase in volumetric capacitance (456.4 mF cm −3 (for the printed packaging) vs 425.0 mF cm −3 (for the pouch film)) (Figure 4d).…”

Section: Seamless Unitization Of the Diw-printed Asc With A Pagoda-sh...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Customizable power sources with various form factors have garnered considerable attention, with promising prospects for the "Internet-of-Things (IoT)" particularly in application fields of smart flexible/ wearable electronics, self-powered soft robotics, and miniaturized electronics. [1,2] Notably, these emerging power sources can be monolithically integrated with target devices to act as so-called embodied energy, [3] thus facilitating the design of various arbitrary-shaped electronic devices that can efficiently exploit interior spaces in device footprints. As a facile way to achieve this goal, high-fidelity microfabrication techniques have been explored.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

All‐Direct‐Ink‐Writing of Artistic Supercapacitors: Toward On‐Demand Embodied Power Sources

Lee

Kim

Ahn

et al. 2022

Adv Funct Materials

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Despite the extensive studies on printed power sources for user‐customized shape‐versatile electronics, most of them have still focused on printing of electrochemically active materials, with little attention to passive components such as current collectors and packaging, thus hindering their versatile application. Here, all‐direct‐ink‐writing (DIW) of artistic supercapacitors (ASCs) as a facile and scalable strategy to enable power source‐unitized monolithic electronic devices with various form factors is demonstrated. Interdigitated nickel current collectors embedded inside a polyurethane support layer are fabricated using DIW printing, which can facilitate the subsequent printing of multi‐scale, ultrathick electrodes. Interstitial voids between the DIW‐printed adjacent electrode layers are densely infiltrated by click‐crosslinkable electrolyte inks with well‐tuned rheological properties. The void‐free electrode/electrolyte assembly is conformally printed with a waterproof packaging ink to enable hermetic encapsulation, eventually producing all‐DIW‐printed ASCs with efficient space utilization, design diversity, and dimensional scalability. Notably, the resulting ASC can be seamlessly unitized with arbitrary‐shaped 3D objects (e.g., miniature pagodas), allowing for the potential development of on‐demand embodied power sources for electronic devices.

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“…[4][5][6] Second, the systems of natural organisms, which are different from those of welldeveloped rigid robots that are connected by isolated joint-link chains, can perform multiple functions simultaneously. [7][8][9] Similar to their natural counterparts, soft robots can perform the functions of actuation, execution, sensing, and control systems; therefore, they can be designed with a compact and lightweight structure to achieve tasks distinctively and efficiently compared with traditional rigid robots.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Modular Origami Soft Robot with the Perception of Interaction Force and Body Configuration

Huang

Zhou

Wang

et al. 2022

Advanced Intelligent Systems

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Bio‐inspired soft robots provide a promising solution for robots working in human‐centered scenarios and interacting with unstructured environments. However, the functional versatility and multimodal sensing of soft robots still need improvements. On one hand, the configuration of a soft robot is predefined during manufacturing; on the other hand, the multimodal perception of the deformable soft actuator is challenging. In this work, a reconfigurable and proprioceptive soft origami module is presented, where two kinds of basic actuation modes (i.e., extension and bending) are realized, and multimodal perception is enabled using a novel foldable self‐inductance sensor. As a result, the origami module can be reconfigured to assemble multifunctional robots that can measure interaction force, body configuration, and other environmental information. Dedicated experiments are performed to validate the performance of the proposed origami module. An intelligent gripper assembled using three origami modules is designed with the capabilities of grasping mode adjustment, grasping force measurement, and the grasping target's size measurement. An intelligent jellyfish is assembled using five origami modules, and equipped with buoyancy adjustment and underwater grasping capabilities. The proposed proprioceptive modular soft origami provides an effective solution for versatile and intelligent soft robot design.

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Towards enduring autonomous robots via embodied energy

Cited by 129 publications

References 146 publications

Emergent Microrobotic Oscillators via Asymmetry-Induced Order

Emergent Microrobotic Oscillators via Asymmetry-Induced Order

All‐Direct‐Ink‐Writing of Artistic Supercapacitors: Toward On‐Demand Embodied Power Sources

Modular Origami Soft Robot with the Perception of Interaction Force and Body Configuration

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