"Brainless" robot runs or swims automatically without control commands

A team of scientists from the FOM Institute for Atomic and Molecular Physics (AMOLF) has developed a walking and swimming robot that automatically adapts its movements to its environment without any control electronics or sensors. For example, it can switch between walking on land and swimming in water. The robot is only powered by compressed air.

A lot of electronics, sensors and sometimes artificial intelligence (AI) are normally required to automatically adapt a robot's mode of movement to changing terrain. The robot uses this to analyze its environment and adapts its locomotion accordingly.

AMOLF researchers have taken a different approach and wanted to develop a robot that is as simple as possible and automatically adapts its locomotion to its surroundings. The scientists are using a simple principle by using air pressure as a form of propulsion. Similar to the inflated, wobbly tube dancers that move and attract attention at events, the AMOLF soft robot is also set in motion.

Automatic synchronization of leg movements

The researchers have equipped the soft robot, which is made from a piece of silicone, with tubular legs, as can be seen in the study "Physical synchronization of soft self-oscillating limbs for fast and autonomous locomotion", published in Science. When air is blown into the body, the legs start to swing, just like the tuba dancers do. Each individual leg swings randomly. However, this changes when the legs are coupled, as their movements then synchronize, resulting in uniform movement sequences.

"Suddenly, order emerges from chaos," says Alberto Comoretto, first author of the study. "There is no code, no instructions. The legs simply synchronize spontaneously and the robot moves. Like fireflies that blink in sync or heart cells that pulse in unison, complex collective movements arise from simple interactions."

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During their experiments, the scientists observed another astonishing ability of their robot: depending on the surface, the robot spontaneously realigns its gait. If it moves from land to water, for example, its movement changes from an in-phase hopping pattern to swimming movements. The transition takes place without any control. The change in movement results automatically from the interaction between the body and its environment.

"We often see similar decentralized intelligence in biology," explains Mannus Schomaker, co-author of the study. "Starfish, for example, coordinate hundreds of tube feet using local feedback and body dynamics, not a centralized brain."

The robot is also fast – very fast. It reaches a top speed of 30 body lengths per second. That is about a third faster than a Ferrari, the scientists write.

The scientists are certain that this type of robotic movement can be used for a wide range of applications, such as intelligent medical capsules that transport targeted medication in a body or in exoskeletons. There, the technology could be used to automatically synchronize the wearer's steps with artificial power assistance. Human walking power can thus be extended without having to use electronics and consume a lot of electricity.

Exploratory robots, for example in space, could also use the technology to move in extreme environments without vulnerable control electronics. The researchers see their study as a contribution to how simpler, more adaptable and more robust walking systems can be developed that are physically controlled, but not by calculations or AI.

(olb)