Zhao Hanting, Hu Shengguo, Zhang Hongrui, Wang Zhuo, Dong Hao, Del Hougne Philipp, Cui Tie Jun, Li Lianlin
State Key Laboratory of Advanced Optical Communication Systems and Networks, School of Electronics, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China.
Center on Frontiers of Computing Studies, School of Computer Science, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China.
Natl Sci Rev. 2022 Nov 24;10(8):nwac266. doi: 10.1093/nsr/nwac266. eCollection 2023 Aug.
Intelligent indoor robotics is expected to rapidly gain importance in crucial areas of our modern society such as at-home health care and factories. Yet, existing mobile robots are limited in their ability to perceive and respond to dynamically evolving complex indoor environments because of their inherently limited sensing and computing resources that are, moreover, traded off against their cruise time and payload. To address these formidable challenges, here we propose intelligent indoor metasurface robotics (I2MR), where all sensing and computing are relegated to a centralized robotic brain endowed with microwave perception; and I2MR's limbs (motorized vehicles, airborne drones, etc.) merely execute the wirelessly received instructions from the brain. The key aspect of our concept is the centralized use of a computation-enabled programmable metasurface that can flexibly mold microwave propagation in the indoor wireless environment, including a sensing and localization modality based on configurational diversity and a communication modality to establish a preferential high-capacity wireless link between the I2MR's brain and limbs. The metasurface-enhanced microwave perception is capable of realizing low-latency and high-resolution three-dimensional imaging of humans, even around corners and behind thick concrete walls, which is the basis for action decisions of the I2MR's brain. I2MR is thus endowed with real-time and -context awareness of its operating indoor environment. We implement, experimentally, a proof-of-principle demonstration at ∼2.4 GHz, in which I2MR provides health-care assistance to a human inhabitant. The presented strategy opens a new avenue for the conception of smart and wirelessly networked indoor robotics.
智能室内机器人有望在现代社会的关键领域迅速变得重要，比如家庭医疗保健和工厂。然而，现有的移动机器人在感知和应对动态变化的复杂室内环境方面能力有限，因为其固有的传感和计算资源有限，而且这些资源还要在续航时间和 payload 之间进行权衡。为应对这些严峻挑战，我们在此提出智能室内超表面机器人（I2MR），其中所有传感和计算都交给一个具备微波感知能力的中央机器人大脑；I2MR 的肢体（机动车辆、空中无人机等）仅执行从大脑无线接收的指令。我们这一概念的关键在于集中使用一个具备计算能力的可编程超表面，它能够在室内无线环境中灵活塑造微波传播，包括基于配置多样性的传感和定位模式以及在 I2MR 的大脑和肢体之间建立优先高容量无线链路的通信模式。超表面增强的微波感知能够实现对人类的低延迟、高分辨率三维成像，甚至能在拐角处和厚混凝土墙后面成像，这是 I2MR 大脑做出行动决策的基础。因此，I2MR 具备对其运行室内环境的实时和情境感知能力。我们在约 2.4GHz 频率下通过实验实现了原理验证演示，其中 I2MR 为人类居住者提供医疗保健协助。所提出的策略为智能且无线联网的室内机器人概念开辟了一条新途径。
