Advanced Intelligent Systems, the Penn State team describes how the left and right wheels of the robot are powered by different ECVS units. This enables a basic form of navigation and foraging where the robot will automatically steer toward metal surfaces it can harvest power from, without assistance from a computer. The rudimentary form of navigation takes inspiration from the natural world, according to the team. “Bacteria are able to autonomously navigate toward nutrients through a process called chemotaxis, where they sense and respond to changes in chemical concentrations,” said James Pikul, assistant professor in Penn Engineering’s Department of Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics.