Autonomous thermodynamic cycles via robotic mobility and sensing

Key points

• Thermodynamic cycles are the foundation of energy conversion across natural and engineered systems, transforming heat into useful work.1
• Our model reveals that rapid transitions in the capsules' energy states allow the system to operate as a mobile heat engine that harvests and stores energy.1
• By linking the capsule-scale internal energy dynamics to the robot's large-scale navigation strategy, we optimize locomotion paths that balance motion cost and energy harvesting.1
• These findings demonstrate that thermodynamic cycles can emerge when autonomous systems navigate their environments, offering an artificial analog of organisms that forage for energy across spatial resources.1

Sources (1)

• [1]Autonomous thermodynamic cycles via robotic mobility and sensing
  arXiv (AI, ML, NLP, CV, robotics, multi-agent) · Oct 8, 10:39 AM

  Here, we introduce autonomous thermodynamic cycles enabled by robotic mobility and sensing, allowing robots to perform thermodynamic cycles by accessing spatially varying temperature fields.

  Thermodynamic cycles are the foundation of energy conversion across natural and engineered systems, transforming heat into useful work.

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