Locomotion of Gel by Chemical Reaction as Computation

Abstract

To develop robots adopting to a complicated real world, a system which mimics the hierarchical system of living matter has been developed. However, the synchronization mechanism to control all the system is realized by computation with computer. Since their algorithms are given by their designers from the outside of the systems, they cannot avoid the frame problem. To avoid it, the system needs to be controlled by computation algorithm generated from the inside of the system. Therefore, we considered the function of BZ reaction as computation, and we aimed to develop a chemical robot which shows spontaneous one directional locomotion without any algorithms applying self-oscillating gel with BZ reaction. As a result, we succeeded in endogenously making asymmetry by balancing between diffusion rate of materials contributing to the BZ reaction and shape and size of the gel, and in concretely showing that the gel actually shows one directional peristaltic motion.