Emergent microrobotic oscillators via asymmetry-induced order
Abstract Spontaneous oscillations on the order of several hertz are the drivers of many crucial processes in nature. From bacterial swimming to mammal gaits, converting static energy inputs into slowly oscillating power is key to the autonomy of organisms across scales. However, the fabrication of s...
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Nature Portfolio
2022-10-01
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| Series: | Nature Communications |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-33396-5 |
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| author | Jing Fan Yang Thomas A. Berrueta Ada M. Brooks Albert Tianxiang Liu Ge Zhang David Gonzalez-Medrano Sungyun Yang Volodymyr B. Koman Pavel Chvykov Lexy N. LeMar Marc Z. Miskin Todd D. Murphey Michael S. Strano |
| author_facet | Jing Fan Yang Thomas A. Berrueta Ada M. Brooks Albert Tianxiang Liu Ge Zhang David Gonzalez-Medrano Sungyun Yang Volodymyr B. Koman Pavel Chvykov Lexy N. LeMar Marc Z. Miskin Todd D. Murphey Michael S. Strano |
| author_sort | Jing Fan Yang |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Spontaneous oscillations on the order of several hertz are the drivers of many crucial processes in nature. From bacterial swimming to mammal gaits, converting static energy inputs into slowly oscillating power is key to the autonomy of organisms across scales. However, the fabrication of slow micrometre-scale oscillators remains a major roadblock towards fully-autonomous microrobots. Here, we study a low-frequency oscillator that emerges from a collective of active microparticles at the air-liquid interface of a hydrogen peroxide drop. Their interactions transduce ambient chemical energy into periodic mechanical motion and on-board electrical currents. Surprisingly, these oscillations persist at larger ensemble sizes only when a particle with modified reactivity is added to intentionally break permutation symmetry. We explain such emergent order through the discovery of a thermodynamic mechanism for asymmetry-induced order. The on-board power harvested from the stabilised oscillations enables the use of electronic components, which we demonstrate by cyclically and synchronously driving a microrobotic arm. This work highlights a new strategy for achieving low-frequency oscillations at the microscale, paving the way for future microrobotic autonomy. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-7da80518e34f4e4cbc0ec802d5255d7f |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2041-1723 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2022-10-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Nature Communications |
| spelling | doaj-art-7da80518e34f4e4cbc0ec802d5255d7f2025-08-20T03:27:11ZengNature PortfolioNature Communications2041-17232022-10-0113111110.1038/s41467-022-33396-5Emergent microrobotic oscillators via asymmetry-induced orderJing Fan Yang0Thomas A. Berrueta1Ada M. Brooks2Albert Tianxiang Liu3Ge Zhang4David Gonzalez-Medrano5Sungyun Yang6Volodymyr B. Koman7Pavel Chvykov8Lexy N. LeMar9Marc Z. Miskin10Todd D. Murphey11Michael S. Strano12Department of Chemical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyCenter for Robotics and Biosystems, Northwestern UniversityDepartment of Chemical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyDepartment of Chemical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyDepartment of Chemical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyDepartment of Electrical and Systems Engineering, University of PennsylvaniaDepartment of Chemical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyDepartment of Chemical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyPhysics of Living Systems, Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyDepartment of Chemical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyDepartment of Electrical and Systems Engineering, University of PennsylvaniaCenter for Robotics and Biosystems, Northwestern UniversityDepartment of Chemical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyAbstract Spontaneous oscillations on the order of several hertz are the drivers of many crucial processes in nature. From bacterial swimming to mammal gaits, converting static energy inputs into slowly oscillating power is key to the autonomy of organisms across scales. However, the fabrication of slow micrometre-scale oscillators remains a major roadblock towards fully-autonomous microrobots. Here, we study a low-frequency oscillator that emerges from a collective of active microparticles at the air-liquid interface of a hydrogen peroxide drop. Their interactions transduce ambient chemical energy into periodic mechanical motion and on-board electrical currents. Surprisingly, these oscillations persist at larger ensemble sizes only when a particle with modified reactivity is added to intentionally break permutation symmetry. We explain such emergent order through the discovery of a thermodynamic mechanism for asymmetry-induced order. The on-board power harvested from the stabilised oscillations enables the use of electronic components, which we demonstrate by cyclically and synchronously driving a microrobotic arm. This work highlights a new strategy for achieving low-frequency oscillations at the microscale, paving the way for future microrobotic autonomy.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-33396-5 |
| spellingShingle | Jing Fan Yang Thomas A. Berrueta Ada M. Brooks Albert Tianxiang Liu Ge Zhang David Gonzalez-Medrano Sungyun Yang Volodymyr B. Koman Pavel Chvykov Lexy N. LeMar Marc Z. Miskin Todd D. Murphey Michael S. Strano Emergent microrobotic oscillators via asymmetry-induced order Nature Communications |
| title | Emergent microrobotic oscillators via asymmetry-induced order |
| title_full | Emergent microrobotic oscillators via asymmetry-induced order |
| title_fullStr | Emergent microrobotic oscillators via asymmetry-induced order |
| title_full_unstemmed | Emergent microrobotic oscillators via asymmetry-induced order |
| title_short | Emergent microrobotic oscillators via asymmetry-induced order |
| title_sort | emergent microrobotic oscillators via asymmetry induced order |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-33396-5 |
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