The research team has created a compact circuit that transmits commands using variations in fluid pressure, a method inspired by the human body's operation. This breakthrough could lead to a new generation of robots where the body functions independently of the central control system, opening space for more sophisticated artificial intelligence.
"Delegating tasks to different parts of the body frees up computational space for robots to 'think,' allowing future generations of robots to be more aware of their social context or even more dexterous. This opens the door for a new kind of robotics in places like social care and manufacturing," explained Dr. Antonio Forte, Senior Lecturer in Engineering at King's College London and senior author of the study.
Published in 'Advanced Science', the study highlights how this new approach could enable robots to function in environments where electrical devices are ineffective, such as in highly irradiated areas like Chernobyl or in sensitive locations like MRI rooms. The technique also holds promise for use in regions with unreliable access to electricity, providing a more versatile and accessible form of robotics.
Dr. Forte added, "Put simply, robots are split into two parts: the brain and the body. An AI brain can help run the traffic system of a city, but many robots still struggle to open a door - why is that? Software has advanced rapidly in recent years, but hardware has not kept up. By creating a hardware system independent from the software running it, we can offload a lot of the computational load onto the hardware, in the same way your brain doesn't need to tell your heart to beat."
Currently, all robots rely on electricity and computer chips for operation, where software translates information to the hardware via encoders. This process is particularly challenging in the field of soft robotics, which uses flexible materials like robotic muscles. The team's fluid-based circuit overcomes this by using pressure signals to transmit commands, functioning like a transistor in conventional electronics but without the need for electricity.
This system offloads computational tasks from software to hardware, freeing up space for more adaptive and complex systems in the future. As the next step, the researchers aim to scale up the circuits for use in larger robots, including those used in industrial monitoring and other applications.
Mostafa Mousa, a post-graduate researcher at King's College London and co-author, emphasized the importance of embodied intelligence in robotics: "Ultimately, without investment in embodied intelligence, robots will plateau. Soon, if we do not offload the computational load that modern-day robots take on, algorithmic improvements will have little impact on their performance. Our work is just a first step on this path, but the future holds smarter robots with smarter bodies."
Research Report:Frequency-controlled fluidic oscillators for soft robots
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