A robot boat powered by liquid metal engines
A robot boat powered by liquid metal engines
Unlike conventional microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), machines based on gallium liquid metal alloys rely on Marangoni flows to induce motion without mechanical moving parts. Despite this advantage, currently developed liquid metal enabled robotic systems still need the locomotion of liquid metal droplets, thereby generating weak actuating forces and limiting their manoeuvrability. Here, a liquid metal engine (LME) is created to work as a jet thruster to continuously power a robot boat without the need of locomotion. In addition, the engine is electrically driven by surface tension without any mechanical moving parts. The structural design and the parameters of operation of the LME are investigated and optimized. Finally, the manipulation of the LME using a motor control unit is demonstrated for driving an untethered robot boat to realize complex locomotion with the precise control over the direction and speed. Thus, this LME could offer new opportunities for developing high-performance liquid metal machines to power robotic systems.
engine, Galinstan, liquid metal, Marangoni flow, robotics
Li, Xiangpeng
73f32905-ad7c-4ce3-93a4-78237b98f4fb
Tang, Shi Yang
1d0f15c6-2a3e-4bad-a3d8-fc267db93ed4
Li, Shen
43286bfa-4f45-4685-89b2-7955d430c51a
Ge, Du'an
bbcf7253-8fa3-4c2d-b6e9-039065e1d218
Yang, Junhui
bcd81344-dafd-4f58-b43d-44cabd3d5694
Zhou, Jiangxia
4ccb7607-3a54-4dcf-8b35-00ac4f851c07
Yang, Hao
6cdeb7bb-81d1-4a45-b3a0-0f0190c01a8a
Zhang, Shiwu
da008f91-71fa-42fb-879e-68b91429e1d6
Li, Weihua
e2555036-0e48-425a-afeb-db6ffba5238e
Sun, Lining
e4660e06-1315-4059-985f-2cb1e50c5fc8
January 2021
Li, Xiangpeng
73f32905-ad7c-4ce3-93a4-78237b98f4fb
Tang, Shi Yang
1d0f15c6-2a3e-4bad-a3d8-fc267db93ed4
Li, Shen
43286bfa-4f45-4685-89b2-7955d430c51a
Ge, Du'an
bbcf7253-8fa3-4c2d-b6e9-039065e1d218
Yang, Junhui
bcd81344-dafd-4f58-b43d-44cabd3d5694
Zhou, Jiangxia
4ccb7607-3a54-4dcf-8b35-00ac4f851c07
Yang, Hao
6cdeb7bb-81d1-4a45-b3a0-0f0190c01a8a
Zhang, Shiwu
da008f91-71fa-42fb-879e-68b91429e1d6
Li, Weihua
e2555036-0e48-425a-afeb-db6ffba5238e
Sun, Lining
e4660e06-1315-4059-985f-2cb1e50c5fc8
Li, Xiangpeng, Tang, Shi Yang, Li, Shen, Ge, Du'an, Yang, Junhui, Zhou, Jiangxia, Yang, Hao, Zhang, Shiwu, Li, Weihua and Sun, Lining
(2021)
A robot boat powered by liquid metal engines.
Advanced Materials Technologies, 6 (1), [2000840].
(doi:10.1002/admt.202000840).
Abstract
Unlike conventional microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), machines based on gallium liquid metal alloys rely on Marangoni flows to induce motion without mechanical moving parts. Despite this advantage, currently developed liquid metal enabled robotic systems still need the locomotion of liquid metal droplets, thereby generating weak actuating forces and limiting their manoeuvrability. Here, a liquid metal engine (LME) is created to work as a jet thruster to continuously power a robot boat without the need of locomotion. In addition, the engine is electrically driven by surface tension without any mechanical moving parts. The structural design and the parameters of operation of the LME are investigated and optimized. Finally, the manipulation of the LME using a motor control unit is demonstrated for driving an untethered robot boat to realize complex locomotion with the precise control over the direction and speed. Thus, this LME could offer new opportunities for developing high-performance liquid metal machines to power robotic systems.
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Published date: January 2021
Additional Information:
Funding Information:
X.L, S.Y.T., and S.L. contributed equally to this work. This work was supported in part by grants from NSFC under Grant Nos. 61873339, 51828503, U1713206, 61703294, a grant from Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province under Grant Nos. BK20190096, BK20170342, and supported by the State Key Laboratory of Applied Optics.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 Wiley-VCH GmbH
Keywords:
engine, Galinstan, liquid metal, Marangoni flow, robotics
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 481756
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/481756
ISSN: 2365-709X
PURE UUID: a53a793f-0247-4d23-aa52-f24f57626cfe
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Date deposited: 07 Sep 2023 16:35
Last modified: 06 Jun 2024 02:18
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Contributors
Author:
Xiangpeng Li
Author:
Shi Yang Tang
Author:
Shen Li
Author:
Du'an Ge
Author:
Junhui Yang
Author:
Jiangxia Zhou
Author:
Hao Yang
Author:
Shiwu Zhang
Author:
Weihua Li
Author:
Lining Sun
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