Belousov-Zhabotinsky liquid marbles in robot control
This work addresses robot control for robotics applications, but it appears incremental as it applies an existing chemical reaction method to a new robotic context.
The researchers tackled the problem of controlling robot movement by using on-board Belousov-Zhabotinsky liquid marbles, where electrical potential from stimulated marbles was used to direct a wheeled robot's trajectory.
We show how to control the movement of a wheeled robot using on-board liquid marbles made of Belousov-Zhabotinsky solution droplets coated with polyethylene powder. Two stainless steel, iridium coated electrodes were inserted in a marble and the electrical potential recorded was used to control the robot's motor. We stimulated the marble with a laser beam. It responded to the stimulation by pronounced changes in the electrical potential output. The electrical output was detected by robot. The robot was changing its trajectory in response to the stimulation. The results open new horizons for applications for oscillatory chemical reactions in robotics.