Rotenna: Harnessing Seamless Integration of Continuum Robot for Dynamic Electromagnetic Reconfiguration

This letter presents a novel concept, Rotenna (Robot-Antenna), which aims to address the limitations of existing reconfigurable electromagnetic devices by seamlessly integrating antennas with robotic structures. Based on this concept, we develop a prototype demonstrating enhanced flexibility and reconfigurability in electromagnetic devices. The prototype employs a continuum robot as its supporting structure, featuring a flexible leaky coaxial cable as the backbone, which allows for continuous tunability and precise control. By manipulating the continuum robot structure, we achieve real-time reconfigurable responses and adaptive adjustments in various radiation directions, gains, and modes. The interdisciplinary approach, combining electromagnetic theory and robotics engineering, shows promising potential for advancing various fields, including wireless communications, medicine, the Internet of Things, and intelligent manufacturing. Future research will focus on expanding the Rotenna concept to different types of robotic systems and electromagnetic devices, further enhancing the capabilities of reconfigurable electromagnetic systems. © 2023 IEEE.