In recent years, with the continuous release of automation requirements from all walks of life, robots have gained more and more applications, and in many fields of application, we can find that there are obviously more robots with mobility. Whether it is agv in the industrial field, distribution robots in the logistics field, sweeping robots in the home field, or scientific research, they have gained unique action through different driving technologies.

It seems that for most of the robots, having mobility has become a basic function, but in fact, it is not easy to achieve it. The realization of robotic mobility is not only affected by the application environment, robot volume and robotic materials, but also by drive technology, drive materials and drive methods. Therefore, it is not an exaggeration to say that the action function is a core function.

Among all the above-mentioned influencing factors, the most crucial one is undoubtedly the robot driving factor, saying that there are thousands of 10,000, only the robot with the driving system can truly have the ability to move.

Development status of robot driving methods at home and abroad

At present, the drive system of robots at home and abroad has formed a certain consensus. There are three kinds of power source: hydraulic, pneumatic and electric. In the selection of driving materials, power, magnet, oil and steam are mostly selected. Large robots are biased toward internal drives, and micro and special robots are more likely to choose external drives.

The three existing driving methods are suitable for most of the robots from the industrial field to the service field, and basically meet the daily production and living needs of people. However, the more significant shortcoming is that the coverage of the three drivers is not thorough enough. For special robots or new robots such as micro-robots and software robots, the normal driving requirements cannot be met. At the same time, the three drivers themselves have complex structures, insufficient technology and power. Not enough, high cost and many other shortcomings.

In view of this, all countries are now striving to find more ways to drive robots to make up for and enrich the existing methods. It is hoped that through the exploration of new driving methods, on the one hand, the breakthrough of existing technologies will be promoted, on the other hand, special Robots and new robots can be mobile and get to the ground in their respective fields.

The birth of new robots brings new enlightenment

Nowadays, such exploration has already shown value. In the recent research on new robots launched by the research team jointly composed by the University of Science and Technology of China and the University of Australia, Wollongong University and Suzhou University, it brings important inspirations about the new driving methods.

It is understood that the new product developed by the joint research group is the first metal hydraulically driven functional wheeled robot in China. It designs the robot into a wheel structure and uses gallium-based room temperature liquid metal as the driving material and power source. The unique morphological change property of gallium-based room temperature liquid metal allows the liquid metal to be deformed, separated, moved and fused by an external electric field applied by a microelectrode, and finally drives the wheeled robot to move.

At present, the joint research group has applied the technology to the micro-cars, and the liquid metal droplets are carried and driven as flexible wheels, which successfully realizes the autonomous movement of the car on the plane, and there is no such thing in the whole process. In the future, the research team believes that this driving technology is expected to be used on micro-robots and achieve effective landing in the medical and health fields.

Nowadays, the demand for various medical, special operations and military is increasing. The driving technology of nano-robots and micro-pipe robots is still unable to break through. The industry believes that the emergence of this new driving technology can be used for traditional robot driving methods. Bringing changes can make up for the deficiencies of the traditional drive structure, large size and low drive energy efficiency, and promote the rapid development of future micro-robots and special robot systems.

The future development trend of robot driving methods

Then, what new changes and characteristics will be driven by the driving trend of the future miniaturization, integration and intelligence of robots? The author believes that there are three main points.

The first is material diversification. The innovation of the driving method depends not only on the development of the driving technology, but also in the material properties of the power source. The current power source materials are still relatively simple, such as the metal used for power generation, and the future exploration of new materials will Greatly enrich the choice of power source. Different robots can choose a more suitable power source according to different applications and characteristics, not only can achieve energy efficiency, but also optimize cost.

Second is energy conservation and environmental protection. The changes of traditional power source materials from coal, steam, oil to electricity, solar energy, natural gas, etc., have initially reflected a trend of energy conservation and environmental protection. In the future, with the further development of China's environmental protection industry, the energy saving and environmental protection requirements of the robot industry Correspondingly, the driving method will no longer only meet the production needs of cost reduction and cost reduction, but also meet the environmental protection needs of reducing consumption and reducing emissions. In addition, with the development of the medical industry and the growing awareness of health, the green security attributes of the driving mode for safety and health will also be upgraded.

The last is to drive intelligence. With the advent of robotic intelligence requirements, the future robot will be transformed from manual operation and semi-automatic drive to fully autonomous intelligent drive. This aspect requires the improvement of drive technology. On the other hand, it may also need to develop technologies such as sensors and artificial intelligence. , have a certain dependence on them.

All in all, the future driving style is certainly not static, but changes and innovations need the support of new technologies, new materials and new ideas. Now liquid metal drives have ignited the exploration of new driving methods, I believe more and more With the joint efforts of enterprises and research institutions, robot drivers will finally usher in a qualitative breakthrough.

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