Scientists in China have reported the development of a programmable electromagnetic surface that harvests electricity from the surrounding environment while managing wireless communications. According to the researchers, the project employs multi-agent deep reinforcement learning to address complex operational challenges by optimizing variables such as transceiver beamforming and surface coefficients.
The core of the innovation is the Reconfigurable Intelligent Surface (RIS), a two-dimensional material that can manipulate electromagnetic waves in real-time. Unlike traditional battery-powered electronics, the surface draws energy directly from environmental signals such as radar beams. They’ve even created a new IoT acronym to describe their work: a RIS-aided Internet of Robotic Things (IoRT) network, which they define as one that can boost robotic communication efficiency, computation, and energy harvesting.
One of the primary applications of the technology is “electromagnetic cooperative stealth”: networked platforms that work together to minimize their visibility to sensors, which could allow stealthy aircraft to harvest energy from incoming enemy radar to power their propulsion or communication subsystems.
Beyond military applications, the structure might impact the commercial sector of 6G telecommunications by integrating data transmission with radar-like sensing capabilities, potentially optimizing spectrum usage and hardware resources. Current prototypes have demonstrated the ability to steer beams up to ±45 deg, with high precision, ensuring signal coverage when physical barriers obstruct a direct line of sight. It also offers security features such as intentional radio dead zones that mitigate interference and prevent electronic eavesdropping.