Biomimetic metal-eating robot navigates with no computer

Rather than carrying a heavy onboard battery, the robot is powered using an environmentally controlled voltage source, or ECVS. While in contact with a metal surface, the ECVS unit catalyses an oxidation reaction with the surrounding air, essentially ‘eating’ the metal and powering the robot with the freed electrons.

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In a paper published in Advanced Intelligent Systems, the Penn State team describes how the left and right wheels of the robot are powered by different ECVS units. This enables a basic form of navigation and foraging where the robot will automatically steer toward metal surfaces it can harvest power from, without assistance from a computer. The rudimentary form of navigation takes inspiration from the natural world, according to the team.

"Bacteria are able to autonomously navigate toward nutrients through a process called chemotaxis, where they sense and respond to changes in chemical concentrations," said James Pikul, assistant professor in Penn Engineering's Department of Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics.