Discovery Could Lead to Self-Propelled Robots – Using Only Energy Flow From Their Environment

Army-moneyed scientists found how to make products efficient in self-propulsion, permitting products to move without motors or hands.

Researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst found how to make products that snap and reset themselves, just trusting energy circulation from their environment. This research study, released in Nature Materials and moneyed by the U.S. Army, might make it possible for future military robotics to move from their own energy.

“This work is part of a larger multi-disciplinary effort that seeks to understand biological and engineered impulsive systems that will lay the foundations for scalable methods for generating forces for mechanical action and energy storing structures and materials,” stated Dr. Ralph Anthenien, branch chief, Army Research Office, a component of the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command, now called DEVCOM, Army Research Laboratory. “The work will have myriad possible future applications in actuation and motive systems for the Army and DOD.”

Researchers revealed the physics throughout an ordinary experiment that included viewing a gel strip dry. The scientists observed that when the long, flexible gel strip lost internal liquid due to evaporation, the strip moved. Most motions were sluggish, however every now and then, they accelerated.

Scientists find how to make products that snap and reset themselves, just trusting energy circulation from their environment. This research study might make it possible for future military robotics that have the ability to move off their own energy. Credit: Yongjin Kim, UMass Amherst

These quicker motions were snap instabilities that continued to happen as the liquid vaporized even more. Additional research studies exposed that the shape of the product mattered, which the strips might reset themselves to continue their motions.

“Many plants and animals, especially small ones, use special parts that act like springs and latches to help them move really fast, much faster than animals with muscles alone,” stated Dr. Al Crosby, a teacher of polymer science and engineering in the College of Natural Sciences, UMass Amherst. “Plants like the Venus flytraps are fine examples of this sort of motion, as are insects and trap-jaw ants in the animal world.”

Snap instabilities are one manner in which nature integrates a spring and a lock and are significantly utilized to develop quick motions in little robotics and other gadgets along with toys like rubber poppers.

“However, most of these snapping devices need a motor or a human hand to keep moving,” Crosby stated. “With this discovery, there could be various applications that won’t require batteries or motors to fuel movement.”

Scientists find how future military robotics might have the ability to move off simply their own energy. Credit: Yongjim Kim, UMass Amherst

After finding out the important physics from the drying strips, the group try out various shapes to discover the ones probably to respond in anticipated methods, which would move consistently with no motors or hands resetting them. The group even revealed that the improved strips might do work, such as climb a set of stairs by themselves.

“These lessons demonstrate how materials can generate powerful movement by harnessing interactions with their environment, such as through evaporation, and they are important for designing new robots, especially at small sizes where it’s difficult to have motors, batteries, or other energy sources,” Crosby stated.

The research study group is collaborating with DEVCOM Army Research Laboratory to move and shift this understanding into future Army systems.

Reference: “Autonomous snapping and jumping polymer gels” by Yongjin Kim, Jay van den Berg and Alfred J. Crosby, 1 February 2021, Nature Materials.
DOI: 10.1038/s41563-020-00909-w