Researchers eye bio-hybrid robots with engineered and biological parts for self-healing, energy efficiency
ARLINGTON, Va. – U.S. military researchers are approaching industry to find ways of integrating synthetic and biological components to design bio-hybrid robots that outperform traditional robots.
Officials of the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) in Arlington, Va., issued an advanced research concepts opportunity earlier this month (DARPA-EA-25-02-02) for the Hybridizing Biology and Robotics through Integration for Deployable Systems (HyBRIDS) program.
Bio-hybrid robotics
Bio-hybrid robotics combines living organisms and synthetic materials to create biorobots that compared to traditional robots can offer adaptability, self-healing, and energy efficiency.
Bio-hybrid robots aim to capitalize on the precise control of traditional engineered robotic parts while harnessing the capabilities of biological elements. Integrating biological components like cells, tissues, or organisms could extend the functionality of robots, DARPA researchers say.
Recent advancements in engineering and biology have led to development of bio-hybrid robots, which combine biological and synthetic components. Yet today’s bio-hybrid robots typically under-perform their synthetic counterparts.
A bio-hybrid robot is defined as a scaffold equipped with actuators, sensors, and control mechanisms that enable it to interact with its surroundings in an autonomous or semi-autonomous fashion, achieved by merging functional, engineered components with biological materials and components.
Inspired by nature
Nature provides inspiration to advance robotic technologies, but the performance of biological systems remains largely unmatched even as robotic systems become increasingly sophisticated.
Key technical challenges of HyBRIDS ARC include biological component integration into robots; design methods for integrating biological and synthetic materials; approaches to characterize interfaces.
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Moving beyond readily available and well-characterized biological materials requires systematically assessing possible components and developing methods to modify biological materials to enhance systems integration.
Improved computer-aided approaches are necessary to represent, analyze, and predict the relationships between system- and component-level properties and performance.
Companies interested should submit abstracts no later than 7 April 2025 to the DARPA submission website at https://baa.darpa.mil. Those submitting promising abstracts may be invited to give oral presentations. For this project, DARPA is offering yearlong contracts worth between $100,000 and $300,000 each.
Email questions or concerns to DARPA at [email protected]. More information is online at https://sam.gov/opp/580b34f2b653452badd8ec37590e27ec/view.
John Keller | Editor-in-Chief
John Keller is the Editor-in-Chief, Military & Aerospace Electronics Magazine--provides extensive coverage and analysis of enabling electronics and optoelectronic technologies in military, space and commercial aviation applications. John has been a member of the Military & Aerospace Electronics staff since 1989 and chief editor since 1995.
