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Kai K, Nguyen HD, Wan WY, Sato H. The Walking Control of a Crab Biorobot in Amphibious Environment. Soft Robot 2024; 11:596-605. [PMID: 38422187 DOI: 10.1089/soro.2023.0033] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/02/2024] Open
Abstract
This article describes development of a crab biorobot that is capable of traversing diverse environments including both land and water. We have transformed a living rainbow crab into a walking biorobot by attaching wireless controller. An anatomical and physiological investigation revealed the rainbow crabs have sensory system on the carapace. Based on this finding, we implanted electrodes into the carapace. The walking direction of the robot is controlled through electrical stimulation provided by the controller. Depending on this site, the crab biorobot is induced to walk forward, leftward, and rightward in both terrestrial and underwater conditions. There is no significant difference in the mean walking direction between the two conditions. Smooth transition from land to water of the crab biorobot further demonstrates the adaptability to amphibious environment. This biorobot is compact, measuring 5 cm in carapace and weighing 50 g including the wireless controller. The crab biorobot in this scale has a potential for application narrow and unstructured in waterfront environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kazuki Kai
- School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore
| | - Huu Duoc Nguyen
- School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore
| | - Wei Yang Wan
- School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore
| | - Hirotaka Sato
- School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore
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Anuszczyk SR, Dabiri JO. Electromechanical enhancement of live jellyfish for ocean exploration. BIOINSPIRATION & BIOMIMETICS 2024; 19:026018. [PMID: 38330441 DOI: 10.1088/1748-3190/ad277f] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2023] [Accepted: 02/08/2024] [Indexed: 02/10/2024]
Abstract
The vast majority of the ocean's volume remains unexplored, in part because of limitations on the vertical range and measurement duration of existing robotic platforms. In light of the accelerating rate of climate change impacts on the physics and biogeochemistry of the ocean, the need for new tools that can measure more of the ocean on faster timescales is becoming pressing. Robotic platforms inspired or enabled by aquatic organisms have the potential to augment conventional technologies for ocean exploration. Recent work demonstrated the feasibility of directly stimulating the muscle tissue of live jellyfish via implanted microelectronics. We present a biohybrid robotic jellyfish that leverages this external electrical swimming control, while also using a 3D printed passive mechanical attachment to streamline the jellyfish shape, increase swimming performance, and significantly enhance payload capacity. A six-meter-tall, 13 600 l saltwater facility was constructed to enable testing of the vertical swimming capabilities of the biohybrid robotic jellyfish over distances exceeding 35 body diameters. We found that the combination of external swimming control and the addition of the mechanical forebody resulted in an increase in swimming speeds to 4.5 times natural jellyfish locomotion. Moreover, the biohybrid jellyfish were capable of carrying a payload volume up to 105% of the jellyfish body volume. The added payload decreased the intracycle acceleration of the biohybrid robots relative to natural jellyfish, which could also facilitate more precise measurements by onboard sensors that depend on consistent platform motion. While many robotic exploration tools are limited by cost, energy expenditure, and varying oceanic environmental conditions, this platform is inexpensive, highly efficient, and benefits from the widespread natural habitats of jellyfish. The demonstrated performance of these biohybrid robots suggests an opportunity to expand the set of robotic tools for comprehensive monitoring of the changing ocean.
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Affiliation(s)
- Simon R Anuszczyk
- Graduate Aerospace Laboratories, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, United States of America
| | - John O Dabiri
- Graduate Aerospace Laboratories, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, United States of America
- Mechanical and Civil Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, United States of America
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Ma Z, Zhao J, Yu L, Yan M, Liang L, Wu X, Xu M, Wang W, Yan S. A Review of Energy Supply for Biomachine Hybrid Robots. CYBORG AND BIONIC SYSTEMS 2023; 4:0053. [PMID: 37766796 PMCID: PMC10521967 DOI: 10.34133/cbsystems.0053] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/28/2023] [Accepted: 09/02/2023] [Indexed: 09/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Biomachine hybrid robots have been proposed for important scenarios, such as wilderness rescue, ecological monitoring, and hazardous area surveying. The energy supply unit used to power the control backpack carried by these robots determines their future development and practical application. Current energy supply devices for control backpacks are mainly chemical batteries. To achieve self-powered devices, researchers have developed solar energy, bioenergy, biothermal energy, and biovibration energy harvesters. This review provides an overview of research in the development of chemical batteries and self-powered devices for biomachine hybrid robots. Various batteries for different biocarriers and the entry points for the design of self-powered devices are outlined in detail. Finally, an overview of the future challenges and possible directions for the development of energy supply devices used to biomachine hybrid robots is provided.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhiyun Ma
- School of Mechanical Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing 100081, P. R. China
| | - Jieliang Zhao
- School of Mechanical Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing 100081, P. R. China
| | - Li Yu
- School of Mechanical Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing 100081, P. R. China
| | - Mengdan Yan
- School of Mechanical Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing 100081, P. R. China
| | - Lulu Liang
- School of Mechanical Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing 100081, P. R. China
| | - Xiangbing Wu
- School of Mechanical Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing 100081, P. R. China
| | - Mengdi Xu
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA
| | - Wenzhong Wang
- School of Mechanical Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing 100081, P. R. China
| | - Shaoze Yan
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, P. R. China
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Owaki D, Dürr V, Schmitz J. A hierarchical model for external electrical control of an insect, accounting for inter-individual variation of muscle force properties. eLife 2023; 12:e85275. [PMID: 37703327 PMCID: PMC10499373 DOI: 10.7554/elife.85275] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2022] [Accepted: 08/29/2023] [Indexed: 09/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Cyborg control of insect movement is promising for developing miniature, high-mobility, and efficient biohybrid robots. However, considering the inter-individual variation of the insect neuromuscular apparatus and its neural control is challenging. We propose a hierarchical model including inter-individual variation of muscle properties of three leg muscles involved in propulsion (retractor coxae), joint stiffness (pro- and retractor coxae), and stance-swing transition (protractor coxae and levator trochanteris) in the stick insect Carausius morosus. To estimate mechanical effects induced by external muscle stimulation, the model is based on the systematic evaluation of joint torques as functions of electrical stimulation parameters. A nearly linear relationship between the stimulus burst duration and generated torque was observed. This stimulus-torque characteristic holds for burst durations of up to 500ms, corresponding to the stance and swing phase durations of medium to fast walking stick insects. Hierarchical Bayesian modeling revealed that linearity of the stimulus-torque characteristic was invariant, with individually varying slopes. Individual prediction of joint torques provides significant benefits for precise cyborg control.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dai Owaki
- Department of Robotics, Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku UniversitySendaiJapan
| | - Volker Dürr
- Department of Biological Cybernetics, Faculty of Biology, Bielefeld UniversityBielefeldGermany
- Centre for Cognitive Interaction Technology, Bielefeld UniversityBielefeldGermany
| | - Josef Schmitz
- Department of Biological Cybernetics, Faculty of Biology, Bielefeld UniversityBielefeldGermany
- Centre for Cognitive Interaction Technology, Bielefeld UniversityBielefeldGermany
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Matharu PS, Gong P, Guntaka KPR, Almubarak Y, Jin Y, Tadesse YT. Jelly-Z: swimming performance and analysis of twisted and coiled polymer (TCP) actuated jellyfish soft robot. Sci Rep 2023; 13:11086. [PMID: 37422482 PMCID: PMC10329702 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-37611-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/25/2022] [Accepted: 06/24/2023] [Indexed: 07/10/2023] Open
Abstract
Monitoring, sensing, and exploration of over 70% of the Earth's surface that is covered with water is permitted through the deployment of underwater bioinspired robots without affecting the natural habitat. To create a soft robot actuated with soft polymeric actuators, this paper describes the development of a lightweight jellyfish-inspired swimming robot, which achieves a maximum vertical swimming speed of 7.3 mm/s (0.05 body length/s) and is characterized by a simple design. The robot, named Jelly-Z, utilizes a contraction-expansion mechanism for swimming similar to the motion of a Moon jellyfish. The objective of this paper is to understand the behavior of soft silicone structure actuated by novel self-coiled polymer muscles in an underwater environment by varying stimuli and investigate the associated vortex for swimming like a jellyfish. To better understand the characteristics of this motion, simplified Fluid-structure simulation, and particle image velocimetry (PIV) tests were conducted to study the wake structure from the robot's bell margin. The thrust generated by the robot was also characterized with a force sensor to ascertain the force and cost of transport (COT) at different input currents. Jelly-Z is the first robot that utilized twisted and coiled polymer fishing line (TCPFL) actuators for articulation of the bell and showed successful swimming operations. Here, a thorough investigation on swimming characteristics in an underwater setting is presented theoretically and experimentally. We found swimming metrics of the robot are comparable with other jellyfish-inspired robots that have utilized different actuation mechanisms, but the actuators used here are scalable and can be made in-house relatively easily, hence paving way for further advancements into the use of these actuators.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pawandeep Singh Matharu
- Humanoid, Biorobotics and Smart Systems Laboratory (HBS Lab), Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science, The University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, TX, 75080, USA
| | - Pengyao Gong
- Fluids, Turbulence Control and Renewable Energy Laboratory, Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, TX, 75080, USA
| | - Koti Pramod Reddy Guntaka
- SoRobotics Laboratory, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, 48202, USA
| | - Yara Almubarak
- SoRobotics Laboratory, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, 48202, USA
| | - Yaqing Jin
- Fluids, Turbulence Control and Renewable Energy Laboratory, Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, TX, 75080, USA
| | - Yonas T Tadesse
- Humanoid, Biorobotics and Smart Systems Laboratory (HBS Lab), Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science, The University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, TX, 75080, USA.
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Webster-Wood VA, Guix M, Xu NW, Behkam B, Sato H, Sarkar D, Sanchez S, Shimizu M, Parker KK. Biohybrid robots: recent progress, challenges, and perspectives. BIOINSPIRATION & BIOMIMETICS 2022; 18:015001. [PMID: 36265472 DOI: 10.1088/1748-3190/ac9c3b] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/18/2022] [Accepted: 10/20/2022] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
The past ten years have seen the rapid expansion of the field of biohybrid robotics. By combining engineered, synthetic components with living biological materials, new robotics solutions have been developed that harness the adaptability of living muscles, the sensitivity of living sensory cells, and even the computational abilities of living neurons. Biohybrid robotics has taken the popular and scientific media by storm with advances in the field, moving biohybrid robotics out of science fiction and into real science and engineering. So how did we get here, and where should the field of biohybrid robotics go next? In this perspective, we first provide the historical context of crucial subareas of biohybrid robotics by reviewing the past 10+ years of advances in microorganism-bots and sperm-bots, cyborgs, and tissue-based robots. We then present critical challenges facing the field and provide our perspectives on the vital future steps toward creating autonomous living machines.
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Affiliation(s)
- Victoria A Webster-Wood
- Mechanical Engineering, Biomedical Engineering (by courtesy), McGowan Institute of Regenerative Medicine, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA 15116, United States of America
| | - Maria Guix
- Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC), Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology (BIST), Baldiri-Reixac 10-12, 08028 Barcelona, Spain
- Departament de Ciència dels Materials i Química Física, Institut de Química Teòrica i Computacional Barcelona, Universitat de Barcelona, 08028 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Nicole W Xu
- Laboratories for Computational Physics and Fluid Dynamics, U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, Code 6041, Washington, DC, United States of America
| | - Bahareh Behkam
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Institute for Critical Technology and Applied Science, Blacksburg, VA 24061, United States of America
| | - Hirotaka Sato
- School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, 65 Nanyang Drive, Singapore, 637460, Singapore
| | - Deblina Sarkar
- MIT Media Lab, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, United States of America
| | - Samuel Sanchez
- Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC), Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology (BIST), Baldiri-Reixac 10-12, 08028 Barcelona, Spain
- Catalan Institute for Research and Advanced Studies (ICREA), Avda. Lluis Companys 23, 08010 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Masahiro Shimizu
- Department of Systems Innovation, Graduate School of Engineering Science, Osaka University, 1-3 Machikaneyama-machi, Toyonaka, Osaka, Japan
| | - Kevin Kit Parker
- Disease Biophysics Group, Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering and School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, United States of America
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Xu NW, Townsend JP, Costello JH, Colin SP, Gemmell BJ, Dabiri JO. Developing Biohybrid Robotic Jellyfish ( Aurelia aurita) for Free-swimming Tests in the Laboratory and in the Field. Bio Protoc 2021; 11:e3974. [PMID: 33889668 PMCID: PMC8054175 DOI: 10.21769/bioprotoc.3974] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/19/2020] [Revised: 01/28/2021] [Accepted: 01/31/2021] [Indexed: 11/02/2022] Open
Abstract
Biohybrid robotics is a growing field that incorporates both live tissues and engineered materials to build robots that address current limitations in robots, including high power consumption and low damage tolerance. One approach is to use microelectronics to enhance whole organisms, which has previously been achieved to control the locomotion of insects. However, the robotic control of jellyfish swimming offers additional advantages, with the potential to become a new ocean monitoring tool in conjunction with existing technologies. Here, we delineate protocols to build a self-contained swim controller using commercially available microelectronics, embed the device into live jellyfish, and calculate vertical swimming speeds in both laboratory conditions and coastal waters. Using these methods, we previously demonstrated enhanced swimming speeds up to threefold, compared to natural jellyfish swimming, in laboratory and in situ experiments. These results offered insights into both designing low-power robots and probing the structure-function of basal organisms. Future iterations of these biohybrid robotic jellyfish could be used for practical applications in ocean monitoring.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicole W. Xu
- Department of Bioengineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
- Graduate Aerospace Laboratories (GALCIT), California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA
| | - James P. Townsend
- Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, MA, USA
- Department of Biology, Providence College, Providence, RI, USA
| | - John H. Costello
- Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, MA, USA
- Department of Biology, Providence College, Providence, RI, USA
| | - Sean P. Colin
- Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, MA, USA
- Department of Marine Biology and Environmental Science, Roger Williams University, Bristol, RI, USA
| | - Brad J. Gemmell
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, USA
| | - John O. Dabiri
- Graduate Aerospace Laboratories (GALCIT), California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA
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