The Rise of Self-Healing Robots

Medical procedures aren’t an option for robots, but the next best thing may be to give them something like a body’s own healing instinct. This idea sparked new research at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, where Eric Markvicka, associate professor of biomedical engineering, is leading a team that developed electronic skin that can automatically self-repair cuts and punctures—just like the biological healing mechanisms found in humans.

Most robots are covered in hard shells to prevent damage, not soft materials like skin.

“That’s because softer materials can be easily damaged,” Markvicka said. “But what if we could give robots soft exteriors that could detect damage and initiate self-repair?”

That question inspired a system that can detect injuries, generate heat to reseal them, and restore its normal structure—all without human intervention.

“Our body uses our vascular network to pump and deliver materials to those areas to begin to create scar tissue,” Markvicka explained. “How can we do that with synthetic systems?”

His group’s answer lies in an intelligent self-healing electronic skin, which can sense and respond to physical damage in real time. The team’s research, presented at the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), was recognized as a finalist among leading global submissions—a signal of how groundbreaking this concept could be for the next generation of robotics.
 

The science behind the skin

The electronic skin consists of multiple layers that can detect, localize, and heal. The key is a damage-detection layer, made from an electrically insulating elastomer embedded with liquid metal droplets. When the skin is punctured, those droplets merge and form an electrical network that pinpoints where the injury occurred.

 “This formation of an electrical network is something we can use traditional digital circuitry to identify,” Markvicka said. “That allows us to detect and localize damage within that skin.”

Once the injury is identified, the system takes advantage of a property typically seen as a weakness in electronics—electromigration. By sending current through the newly formed conductive paths, the liquid metal heats up, placing the skin into a melting phase that reseals the puncture.

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“Electromigration and thermal failure are often seen as major issues you try to mitigate,” Markvicka said. “But we realized we could actually use that as a huge advantage—to begin to reset that electrical network.”

When the process is complete, the electrical network returns to its original insulating state, as if nothing had happened.

“In some of the more traditional systems, the electrical network has been permanently modified,” he said. “What we’re creating can fully recover.”

To test the design, Markvicka’s team laminated the self-healing skin onto pneumatic actuators—soft robotic components that expand and contract like muscles. During one experiment, the researchers pressurized the system with red fluid so the damage could be visualized.

“We pressurize a system with red fluid to help you see that damage, showing that the robot bleeds in some sense—and then you can fix that,” he said.
 

A future of autonomous recovery

Markvicka’s work could prove transformative in environments where human repair isn’t possible—from space exploration to agriculture and defense.

“We think about the Department of Defense on the battlefield, or resource-limited environments where if something fails, it becomes catastrophic,” he said.

The same applies to Nebraska’s farms, where robots are increasingly used to automate chores like planting and milking.

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“It’s inevitable that you’ll eventually have puncture or damage there,” Markvicka said. “If we can design robots that can take care of themselves, we reduce downtime and extend their working life.”

Self-healing materials also have potential beyond robotics. The electronic skin could one day bridge the gap between rigid wearables and soft human tissue.

The research, supported by the National Science Foundation, NASA’s Nebraska EPSCoR program, and the Biomedical Research Development Fund, is part of a broader movement to build more adaptive, durable technologies. After nearly six years of experimentation, Markvicka’s team continues to refine how machines can monitor and mend themselves.

“The system is a general layer that could be applied to anything,” he said. “It could even be used behind exoskeletons.”

For Markvicka, the vision is as much philosophical as it is mechanical: a world where machines no longer depend entirely on us to stay alive.

“Big applications are implants within the human body,” Markvicka said. “If you have some kind of implant that fails, it’s difficult or impossible to repair.”

“Ultimately,” he said, “we’re building systems that maintain themselves—just like we do.”

Agam Shah is a business and technology writer in Phoenix.