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Mind / Iron
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by Bryan Bergeron, Editor
PUBLISHER
Larry Lemieux
publisher@servomagazine.com
Symbiotic Robots
Symbiosis — an association of
mutual benefit — is a popular
strategy for survival in the biological
world. Think humans and normal
intestinal bacteria, the common
behavior of smaller fisher cleaning
larger fish, or even the seemingly
fearless Egyptian plover bird that
feeds on the leeches attached to
the gums of a crocodile.
Now, imagine how symbiosis
could be useful in a large, 'host'
robot — say a planetary rover.
Wouldn't it be useful to have
relatively small, internal robots that
monitor and — if needed — maintain
the drive train, battery, and other
physical components that can't be
addressed by the basic design of the
host? Think about how our white
blood cells continually roam through
our bodies to identify and address
infections and other problems.
But how would a semiautonomous robot working inside of
another robot obtain energy? It
could have an umbilical cord to the
larger robot's power supply, but this
would limit movement and add
complexity to the construction of the
host robot. It could occasionally tap
into the main power of the host,
something akin to a parasite
latching on to an artery or vein. It
could use solar energy, but this
would require a transparent larger
robot that works in a well-lit
environment.
Another approach is to have
the small internal robots scavenge
energy from the vibrations of the
mechanical motion of the host
robot. Although I'm not aware of
such symbiotic systems, the
components are nearly all
commercially available. In particular,
you can now purchase vibration
energy scavengers, such as the
Joule-Thief™ from AdaptivEnergy
( www.rlpenergy.com).
As you can see from the photo,
the compact, energy scavenger
easily fits in the palm of my hand.
You can also see the primary
mechanism behind the energy
scavenging: the gold, triangular
beam anchored at the right and
bolted to a silver weight at the left.
Vibration in the environment is
converted into electricity that can be
used to power a transmitter or other
low power device.
The current physical
configuration of the Energy-joule is
optimized for 60 Hz vibration.
The optimum vibration frequency
can be modified by changing the
configuration of the triangular beam
and weight. Because of this and
related limitations, the Joule-thief
isn't ready to drop into the battery
compartment of your robot as a
battery replacement, but it does
demonstrate the principles of energy
scavenging. As shipped by
ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER/
VP OF SALES/MARKETING
Robin Lemieux
display@servomagazine.com
EDITOR
Bryan Bergeron
techedit-servo@yahoo.com
TECHNICAL EDITOR
Dan Danknick
dan@teamdelta.com
CONTRIBUTING EDITORS
Jeff Eckert Tom Carroll
Gordon McComb David Geer
Dennis Clark R. Steven Rainwater
Fred Eady Kevin Berry
David Ward John Blankenship
Samuel Mishal Michael Simpson
Carlos Montesinos Ricardo Toro
Zac O’Donnell Blake Hooper
Nick Martin Dave Wiley
John Frizell William Smith
CIRCULATION DIRECTOR
Tracy Kerley
subscribe@servomagazine.com
MARKETING COORDINATOR
WEBSTORE
Brian Kirkpatrick
sales@servomagazine.com
WEB CONTENT
Michael Kaudze
website@servomagazine.com
PRODUCTION/GRAPHICS
Shannon Lemieux
AJ Cohen
ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT
Debbie Stauffacher
Mind/Iron Continued
6 SERVO 02.2009
Copyright 2009 by
T & L Publications, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
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