A High-Voltage Generator and Multiplexer for Electrostatic Actuation in Programmable Matter

Programmable matter (PM) consists of tiny, mm-scale quasi-spherical robots that can be combined and programmed to form any arbitrary 3-D shape autonomously. While PM enables instant structural visualization and opens up a host of industrial and artistic applications, it also raises significant challenges in micro-robot control, communication, and actuation that are difficult to support with existing system-on-chip (SoC) designs. This article presents a high-voltage-generation-and-multiplexer (HVGM) chip specially designed for electrostatic actuation of micro-robots for applications such as PM. The HVGM individually controls 12 pairs of
$+/-$
electrodes using a positive and negative charge pump and mux-structure, consuming only 286 nW power when switching a 10 pF electrode at 155 V/s, and producing a differential voltage of 103 V (29
$\times $
voltage gain from 3.6 V) in measurement. We also show a complete micro-system of stacked dies, measuring 3
$\times $
1.4
$\times $
1.1 mm, including the HVGM, a processor, radio, and harvester that achieves energy-autonomous operation, and can be integrated into a micro-robot “Catom” via a flexible PCB.