Abstract
There is a trend in robotics towards developing smaller robots capable of operating in unconstrained environments, such as the natural world. This vision culminates in robots being integrated ubiquitously in our surroundings. These robots must share space with natural organisms, perhaps interacting with them directly, and there is a challenge in doing so without causing harm. To overcome this, some of the traditional assumptions about robots will need to be reconsidered. One such assumption relates to energy; in some scenarios, it will be infeasible for the robots to be tethered, or even to have externally-provided energy stores. Instead, like living organisms, their energy must be drawn from their environment.Some approaches to achieving this are already in use: photovoltaic cells, using sunlight; Microbial Fuel Cells, extracting energy from decomposition of organic matter; even plants have been used as energy generators. In this thesis, we will take this idea further to investigate how energy can be drawn directly from the continuous changes in the natural environment. We take a route from first looking at materials, through fabrication, to ultimately produce environmentally-responsive actuators which can be applied in future robots.
| Date of Award | 13 May 2025 |
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| Original language | English |
| Awarding Institution |
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| Supervisor | Jonathan M Rossiter (Supervisor) & Matthew E Studley (Supervisor) |
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- Standard