Researchers from Penn State and the US Air Force have built on research dating back to 1938 to harness engineering information processing and integrate it into an advanced form of hardware. The technology relies on integrated circuits, usually based on silicon semiconductors, to process information in a manner similar to the role played by the brain in the human body. The research team discovered that integrated circuits capable of performing computational tasks could be achieved using “almost any hardware” around us. “We have created the first example of a mechanical material that can simultaneously sense, think and act upon mechanical stress without requiring additional circuitry to process such signals,” said Ryan Harne, associate professor of mechanical engineering at Penn State. “The soft polymer material acts like a brain that can receive digital sequences of information that are then processed, resulting in new sequences of digital information that can control reactions.” The hardware works using reconfigurable circuits that can take external stimuli and translate them into electrical information that can be processed to generate output signals. The team demonstrated the potential of the material by performing complex numerical measurements, but it could also be used to detect radio frequencies to communicate light signals for applications such as autonomous search and rescue systems. It could even potentially be used in bio-hybrid materials that can detect, isolate and neutralize airborne pathogens. Scientists now hope to develop the hardware to the point where it can process visual information in the same way it “senses” physical signals. “We are currently translating this into a ‘seeing’ medium to augment the sense of ‘touch’ we have currently created,” Professor Harne said. “Our goal is to develop a hardware that demonstrates autonomous navigation through an environment by seeing signs, following them, and maneuvering out of the way of adverse mechanical forces, such as something stepping on it.” A study detailing the research was published in the scientific journal Nature on Wednesday.
