Researchers at King's College London have developed for the first time a method to send complex commands to robots without the need for electricity, which can free up more "thinking" space for the robot's "brain". This world first achievement has opened up the possibility for the birth of a new generation of robots. The research results were published in the latest issue of the journal Advanced Science. Researchers imitated the working principle of certain parts of the human body and used a new compact circuit to transmit a series of instructions to the device through changes in internal fluid pressure. By offloading the work of software to hardware, the new circuit can free up computing space for robots' "thinking", and the space originally used for control centers can be redirected to run more complex AI software. Researchers say that in simple terms, robots are divided into two parts, namely the brain and the body. AI brains can help manage the city's transportation system, but why are many robots still unable to open a door? The reason is that hardware has not kept up with the rapid development of software. By creating a hardware system independent of running software, a large amount of computing tasks can be transferred to the hardware, just like the human brain does not need to tell the heart to beat. Currently, all robots rely on electricity and computer chips to operate. The "brain" of a robot is composed of algorithms and software, which transmit information to the body or hardware through an encoder and then perform actions. In the field of soft robotics, this issue is particularly prominent. This field uses soft materials to manufacture devices such as robot muscles, typically introducing hard electronic encoders and applying pressure to software to make the materials move in complex ways. Researchers have developed a reconfigurable circuit with adjustable valves. It is placed in the hardware of the robot, and the valve functions like a transistor in a regular circuit. Engineers can send signals directly to hardware through pressure, mimicking binary code, allowing robots to perform complex actions without the need for electricity or instructions from the central brain. Compared to current fluid based circuits, this can achieve a higher level of control. This achievement is expected to lead to the emergence of robots that can operate in environments where electric drive equipment cannot work, such as exploring in radiation areas or working in power sensitive environments such as magnetic resonance imaging rooms. (New Society)
Edit：Zhang Jiaxin Responsible editor：Zhu Jiaqi
Source：Science and Technology Daily
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