Efficient Energy Management for Intelligent Microrobotic Swarms: Design and Impact

Energy serves as the foundational element for all active functions within microrobots. Harvesting devices, such as photovoltaic cells and coils, play a crucial role in converting diverse forms of energy into electricity, while energy storage devices enable uninterrupted operation and liberate microrobots from dependence on external sources. Despite the evident importance of energy, there exists a significant disconnect between the development of energy devices and their integration into microrobotic systems, hampering the deployment of microrobots across diverse fields from agriculture to microsurgery. Here, for transcending the "material for material's sake" focus on simple generic metrics for material optimization, such as energy density, advocating attention to the higher tier transformation of material metrics that determine device-level performance and so make a meaningful contribution to microrobotic technology is argued. Appropriate metrics for microrobotic swarms challenge the stereotype that tiny energy supplies are impractical; instead, swarms simplify individual microrobotic functions, reducing single energy supply requirements and utilizing swarm energy distribution and management. In addition to essential evaluations of the environmental and social impacts of intelligent microrobotic swarms for their safe and beneficial implementation, research targeting these higher-tier metrics is crucial to connecting energy material research and microrobot developments effectively. Energy is pivotal for microrobotic functions, yet a gap exists in integrating energy devices into microrobots. This Perspective proposes a three-level development, advocating for moving material-centric approaches to device design and even swarm energy management. Only then can advanced energy materials contribute to microrobotic field. Evaluating social and environmental impacts is crucial for the safe implementation of microrobotic swarms. image