Magneto-Hydro-Dynamics Driven Liquid Metal Mobile Object

Abstract An idea for realizing the intelligent control the mobile liquid metal is proposed in this report. Mercury drops are used as mobile liquid metal (Ishida and Kakazu, 2000), and driven by MHD (Magneto-Hydro-Dynamics). And the mobile liquid metal roll on the field that many electrodes are buried or slip through between electrode posts stuck on the field. By such a system, it is possible to construct “Amoeba-like Robot”, which has soft mechanics and a possibility of functional emergence on robot's shape. The methods for constructing such system in the real world and an estimation method of its performance are discussed. From the experiments, we could know there are much energy losses for its actuation. In this report, we are taking notice of energy loss that is caused by rotation of liquid metal drop.