Robotic materials
Robotic materials are
History
The idea of creating materials that embed computation is closely related to the concept of
Robotic materials build up on the original concept of programmable matter,[3] but focus on the structural properties of the embedding polymers without claim of universal property changes. Here the term "robotic" refers to the confluence of sensing, actuation, and computation, and was coined by Nikolaus Correll and his students in the Science article "Materials that couple sensing, actuation, and computation".[1]
Applications
Robotic materials allow to off-load computation inside the material, most notably signal processing that arises during high-bandwidth sensing applications or feedback control that is required by fine-grained distributed actuation. Examples for such applications include camouflage, shape change, load balancing, and robotic skins[4] as well as equipping robots with more autonomy by off-loading some of the signal processing and controls into the material,[5] creating "materials that make robots smart" [6]
Research challenges
Research in robotic materials ranges from the device-level and manufacturing to the distributed algorithms that equip robotic materials with intelligence.
References
- ^ a b c d M. A. McEvoy and N.Correll. Materials that couple sensing, actuation, computation, and communication, Science Vol. 347 no. 6228 DOI: 10.1126/science.1261689
- ^ R. M. Walser, Electromagnetic metamaterials. Proc. SPIE 4467, Complex Mediums II: Beyond Linear Isotropic Dielectrics (San Diego, CA, 2001), pp. 1–15 (2001).
- ^ a b T. Toffoli, N. Margolus, Programmable matter: Concepts and realization. Physica D 47, 263–272 (1991). 10.1016/0167-2789(91)90296
- ^ Robotic materials: Changing with the world around them, phys.org, March 19, 2015.
- ^ Autonomous Materials will let future robots change color and shift shape, Popular Science, March 19, 2015.
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- ^ Materials that Couple Sensing, Actuation, Computation and Communication, Computing Community Consortium (CCC) "Great Innovative Ideas", November 2, 2015.
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