I Printed a Microchip That Runs on Air — A Nervous System for Squishy Robots!

A microchip that runs on air instead of electricity: 3D-printed logic circuits that power walking soft robots. First we build air transistors and resistors, then combine them into a logic gate, and finally chain them into a 5-stage ring oscillator. The result? A circuit that doesn’t just compute… it walks! A first step toward a nervous system for our squishy robots. 🔊 Re-uploaded due to an audio issue in the first version — this one’s fixed. Thanks to everyone who commented on the first upload, I read them all! Timestamps: 0:00 – A Microchip That Runs on Air 2:26 – The Squishy Wafer 3:45 – Vacuum Transistors 7:17 – Printing Air Resistors 8:56 – The Inverter: Flipping Signals with Air 10:37 – The Ring Oscillator Comes Alive 12:27 – Walking on Air (Literally) 📚 References & Sources: [1] Jensen, E. C., Grover, W. H., & Mathies, R. A. (2007). Micropneumatic Digital Logic Structures for Integrated Microdevice Computation and Control. Journal of Microelectromechanical Systems, 16(6), 1378–1385. https://doi.org/10.1109/jmems.2007.90... [2] Balaji, V., Castro, K., & Folch, A. (2018). A Laser-Engraving Technique for Portable Micropneumatic Oscillators. Micromachines, 9(9), 426. https://doi.org/10.3390/mi9090426 [3] Duncan, P. N., Nguyen, T. V., & Hui, E. E. (2013). Pneumatic oscillator circuits for timing and control of integrated microfluidics. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 110(45), 18104–18109. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1310254110 [4] Duncan, P. N., Ahrar, S., & Hui, E. E. (2015). Scaling of pneumatic digital logic circuits. Lab on a Chip, 15(5), 1360–1365. https://doi.org/10.1039/c4lc01048e 🎥 Featured Videos & Inspiration: Salamander X-Ray Video –    • A new robot mimics vertebrate motion   Microfluidic Elastomeric Valves –    • The first embedded valve for microfluidics   Electronic Ring Oscillator -    • Step by step build Ring Oscillator with 3 ...   🎵 Music Credits: Dancing In The Rain by Zambolino | https://freetouse.com/music/zambolino Free To Use | https://freetouse.com/music Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com Jasmine Tea by Filo Starquez |    / @filostarquez   Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com Creative Commons / Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported (CC BY-ND 3.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... Meditative by MaxKoMusic | https://maxkomusic.com/ Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com Creative Commons / Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... Storyblocks Audio #AirPowered #Circuit #Board #SoftRobotics #Microfluidics #3DPrinting #PCB #Printed #IC #IntegratedCircuit #Pneumatic #Logic #LogicGate