Artificial microswimmers that move similarly to naturally occurring swimming microorganisms have recently been the focus of some researchers. Microorganisms are all around us and are closely connected to how people live their daily lives. Microorganisms have piqued the interest of scientists ever since their discovery in the 19th century. They were cultivated for research purposes, but this process is costly and time-consuming. However, high-throughput sequencing technology cannot be developed at the same rate as the culture approach.

A team of researchers from Santa Clara University, New Jersey Institute of Technology, and the University of Hong Kong have successfully used deep reinforcement learning to teach microrobots how to swim. The new development is a major step forward in microswimming capabilities. Experts have been consistently focused on creating artificial microswimmers that can navigate similarly to naturally-occuring swimming microorganisms, such as bacteria. These microswimmers could be used for a variety of biomedical applications in the future, such as targeted drug delivery and microsurgery. Even with the focus on development, most of today's artificial microswimmers can only perform simple maneuvers with fixed locomotory gaits.

Researchers from Santa Clara University, New Jersey Institute of Technology and the University of Hong Kong have been able to successfully teach microrobots how to swim via deep reinforcement learning, marking a substantial leap in the progression of microswimming capability. There has been tremendous interest in developing artificial microswimmers that can navigate the world similarly to naturally-occurring swimming microorganisms, like bacteria. Such microswimmers provide promise for a vast array of future biomedical applications, such as targeted drug delivery and microsurgery. Yet, most artificial microswimmers to date can only perform relatively simple maneuvers with fixed locomotory gaits. In the researchers' study published in Communications Physics, they reasoned microswimmers could learn--and adapt to changing conditions--through AI.