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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Dec 30, 2025

A Method to Manipulate Surface Tension of a Liquid Metal via Surface Oxidation and Reduction

A Method to Manipulate Surface Tension of a Liquid Metal via Surface Oxidation and Reduction

Published on: January 26, 2016

Liquid metal droplet solves maze.

Andrew Adamatzky¹, Alessandro Chiolerio, Konrad Szaciłowski

¹Unconventional Computing Laboratory, Department of Computer Science and Creative Technologies, University of the West of England, Bristol BS16 1QY, UK. andrew.adamatzky@uwe.ac.uk.

|January 25, 2020

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

A non-toxic liquid gallium droplet navigates mazes using electrical currents. This liquid metal droplet solver demonstrates potential for long-lasting, adaptable liquid-state computing devices.

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Area of Science:

Materials Science
Robotics
Physics

Background:

Liquid metals exhibit unique properties like high conductivity and surface tension.
Room temperature liquid metals offer advantages in handling and application.
Maze-solving mechanisms are crucial for navigation and computational tasks.

Purpose of the Study:

To demonstrate a liquid metal droplet as a maze-solving agent.
To explore the use of electrical currents for directing liquid metal movement.
To investigate the potential of liquid metal droplets in liquid-state computing.

Main Methods:

Utilizing a non-toxic liquid gallium droplet in a physical maze.
Applying direct current between start and destination points to guide the droplet.
Observing droplet behavior, including compactness, navigation, and cornering.

Main Results:

The gallium droplet successfully solved the maze.
Droplet navigation was driven by electrical current density and conformability.
The droplet maintained a compact form due to high surface tension.

Conclusions:

Liquid metal droplets can function as autonomous maze solvers.
The system shows promise for developing long-lifetime liquid-state computational devices.
Gallium's properties (non-toxicity, conductivity, conformability) are key to this application.