A miniature laboratory tank holds a robotic stingray, its mechanical fins flapping as it navigates the confines with precision. Measuring roughly the width of a dime, the bot travels vast distances, often exceeding its physical dimensions. This advanced microbot effortlessly navigates around corners and swims farther than its predecessors, which shared a similar design.
Its secret? The biohybrid robot combines living, human-derived neurons and muscle cells, controlled by a programmable digital “brain.” These cells cover an artificial “frame” equipped with fins, forming dense connections akin to those that facilitate movement in the human body.
The vessel is also equipped with a cutting-edge WiFi digital circuitry system that features advanced magnetic coils for enhanced performance. The circuit regulates the robotic’s neural activity, dynamically adjusting its stimulation to either enhance or suppress neuronal excitation. As neurons fire, muscle fibers respond. The robotic can flap its fins individually or in tandem, mimicking the flexibility of a stingray or the agility of a butterfly.
While watching the robotic transfer process is undeniably captivating, the true significance of this feat lies far beyond its visually stunning presentation.
Robots have long leveraged insights from natural phenomena to enhance their dexterity and reduce energy consumption. Currently, biohybrid bots are confined to thriving within a nutrient-rich broth of chemical substances.
Unlike earlier designs, the bots are pushing the sector forward into the “brain-to-motor frontier”, enabling autonomous methods that can achieve superior adaptive motor management and learning, according to researcher Su Ryon Shin at Harvard Medical School and her colleagues.
The expertise could undoubtedly bring significant benefits to the field of biomedicine. “As a consequence of its compatibility with human physiology, ’tissue-based biohybrid robotics offers valuable interdisciplinary insights into human health, medicine, and fundamental biological research,’ notes Nicole Xu from the University of Colorado Boulder, an outside expert on the study.”
Nature’s Contact
Researchers have been striving to create robots that excel in traversing diverse environments while expending minimal energy – a distant goal from the rigid, mechanical cyborgs of science fiction.
Typically, they convey an affinity with nature through their ideas.
As a result of evolutionary adaptation, every species on our planet possesses a unique kinematic strategy intricately designed to ensure its very survival. While systems vary wildly, from the intricate workings of a butterfly’s brain to the majestic movements of a blue whale’s flippers, there lies a fundamental concept that unites them all.
Species universally seek a harmonious link between their movements and atmospheric conditions, with an innate ability to swiftly adapt to changing environmental cues. While natural instincts allow living organisms to respond seamlessly to unexpected situations, robots often struggle to adapt when faced with unanticipated hurdles.
“Organisms exhibit superior performance characteristics—comprising heightened vitality efficacy, agility, and resilience—in contrast to their mechanical counterparts, stemming from the cumulative influence of evolutionary pressures that have shaped their natural diversity.”
Scientists’ quest for innovative designs often leads them to nature’s ingenious solutions, where they seek inspiration for the development of bioinspired robots. Two creatures that conserve energy are ray fish and butterflies, both of which utilize minimal vitality to propel themselves through water or air with the subtle movement of their fins or wings respectively.
Last year, our team engineered a groundbreaking underwater robotic system resembling a butterfly, featuring an innovative artificial hydrogel component. By leveraging mild currents as a guide, the bird skillfully flaps its wings to propel itself upward through the water. stroke through the water with a rapid, snapping motion reminiscent of securing a hairpin.
Bots utilised entirely engineered components, integrating actuators designed to detect subtle or intense stimuli, thereby modifying the robot’s moving elements accordingly. While financially successful, such ventures often struggle to sustain themselves in the long run.
Mind Meets Machine
Enter biohybrid robots.
Bots utilize organic actuators to convert various forms of vitality used by the human body, such as automatically translating electrical energy or light into chemical energy.
The technique involves a collaboration between ray-like robots that utilise muscle tissue to propel themselves forward and adjust their movement using an external light source. In this pioneering breakthrough, scientists crafted microbots with a sole layer of cardiac cells from rats, engineered to react precisely to flashes of illumination. Compared to biobots assembled solely from synthetic components, these organic constructs may sustain swimming for significantly longer durations.
The groundbreaking study went further still by incorporating brain cells into the mix. Neurons form intricate connections with muscle cells, enabling precise control over when they flex.
The research team employed induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) in the development of their innovative biobot. Researchers coax ordinary skin cells or pores cells back into an embryonic state, then gently direct them to transform into various specialized cell types. Scientists successfully cultured motor neurons, responsible for controlling muscle movement, alongside muscle cells crucial for maintaining healthy gut function. Cells linked up in a petri dish permitted neurons to regulate muscle contractions.
With dwelling cells in hand, the team proceeded to assemble the robot’s two principal components.
The primary component is responsible for embedding neurons and muscle cells within a thin-film scaffold composed of carbon nanotubes and gelatin, the principal ingredient in Jell-O, which has been shaped to fit the robotic’s body and fins.
A synthetic mind controls the bot wirelessly by manipulating the neural activity, adjusting the firing patterns of neurons to either enhance or diminish their function.
Neuro-Bot
During several assessments, the team successfully demonstrated control over the biohybrid robot’s behavior as it expertly navigated its aquatic environment. By employing a range of frequencies, the neurons responsible for controlling the left and right fins were simultaneously activated, thereby enabling the robot to move directly and make precise turns.
While relying on the enter, the bot may also flail one fin, each fin, or alternate its fins. By incorporating this novel training method, the athlete was able to sustain a higher level of endurance during extended swims, much like switching paddling arms in kayak racing.
A novel network formed instantaneously among the bot’s neurons and muscle cells, facilitating information transmission via electric impulses exclusively. Typically, these connections, known as synapses, require additional chemical messengers to facilitate bidirectional communication; they typically operate in a unidirectional manner.
Unlike traditional neural networks, these artificial constructs enable rapid and sustained transmission of information between nodes, allowing for the control of muscles up to 150 seconds – approximately seven-and-a-half times longer than typical chemical synapses. In contrast to purely artificial approaches, the biohybrid robot demonstrated a significant reduction in energy requirements.
Currently, the minibots are capable of thriving exclusively within a nutrient-dense medium of chemical substances. Assembled components will be effortlessly integrated with electronic systems and synthetic framework. Robot-assisted organoids-on-a-chip are poised to revolutionize the study of neurological and musculoskeletal disorders, as well as accelerate the development of novel therapeutic agents. By leveraging solely electrical connections, which are less complex and more straightforward than traditional chemical synapses, it is possible to facilitate large-scale production of biohybrid robots.
“The bioelectronic neuromuscular robotic swimmer’s appearance hints at a promising frontier for constructing autonomous biohybrid robotic systems capable of adapting motor control, sensory perception, and research.”
