Computer‐Free Autonomous Navigation and Power Generation Using Electro‐Chemotaxis

Abstract

Computer-free autonomous decision making based on environmental cues provides exciting alternatives to classic control systems for robots and smart materials. Although this functionality has been studied in microswimmers and active colloids where energy in the surrounding liquid is prevalent, there are no devices that can provide sufficient power from environmental chemicals to move and steer larger scale robots and vehicles in dry environments. This work overcomes this limitation with an environmentally controlled voltage source (ECVS) that, when directly attached to electric motors on a vehicle, can increase the energy available to the vehicle and provide computer-free autonomous navigation toward chemical fuels in the environment and away from hazards. The ECVS uses electrochemistry to extract power from the chemical fuels, and the vehicle avoids hazards that reduce the output voltage or electrochemical kinetics. Two ECVSs can also be arranged in series or parallel to perform logical functions based on the chemicals in contact with the ECVSs. This work presents a new method to simultaneously steer and power vehicles and robots without computers by directly responding to a wide variety of chemical fields in their environment using electrochemistry.