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Industries et TechnologiesMarch 17th 2025
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March 17th 2025
Hello Tomorrow : la deeptech Phigi veut déployer ses micro-robots « métamorphes » en orbite pour le service spatial
Un micro-robot de Phigi ne mesure que 4 mm de diamètre et contient malgré tout une petite unité de calcul. Il est ici posé sur la plaque d'électrodes qui sert à commander le déplacement de l'essaim. - ©Phigi
Aperçue au sommet Hello Tomorrow, la deeptech française Phigi conçoit des essaims de micro-robots dont la forme programmable pourrait assurer divers services pour les objets en orbite, dont les satellites. Un projet assez fou qui ne sera pas opérationnel avant 2030.
An autonomous robotic swarm that can be organised at will to provide services in space? Yet this futuristic device is the concrete - and, to say the least, audacious - project of Phigi. Based in Montbéliard, this spin-off from the Femto ST laboratory and the University of Michigan will be registered this summer. But it was already competing for first prize in the ‘Aerospace’ category at the Hello Tomorrow summit, held in Paris on 13 and 14 March. The final prize went to Alpha Impulsion, another French deeptech company that designs self-destructing rockets.
"Our value proposition is the interconnection of objects in orbit," explains Rémy Tribhout, CEO and co-founder of Phigi. In space today, a satellite that runs out of fuel or is technologically obsolete is decommissioned and then replaced. To extend lifetimes, the in-orbit service market will take off between now and the end of the decade. However, when you fill up at the petrol pump, the nozzle is designed to fit into the neck of the car's tank. It's not as easy in orbit, because the docking interfaces are not compatible."
An electrostatic force of 200 V
Phigi's micro-robots will be tasked with solving this problem. Once they have been installed in a satellite sent into orbit, they will deploy and ‘stick’ to each other using electrostatic forces, until they form the right structure for the application in question. This could be an interface to ‘refuel’ a satellite, scaffolding to assemble a telescope, a surface inspection system or even an electrodynamic shield to mask or protect other equipment, such as a solar panel. According to figures quoted by Rémy Tribhout when he was pitching Phigi to the Hello Tomorrow jury, such civil and military applications will be worth nearly €10 billion in 2032, compared with €1.8 billion in 2022.
A swarm is made up of 7,000 micro-robots, each resembling a quasi-spherical ball 4 mm in diameter and weighing 25 mg, made of resin and covered with metal and a protective layer. Inside is a computer the size of a grain of rice, connected to a photovoltaic cell,’ explains Rémy Tribhout. "This produces a voltage of less than one volt, which is then converted into 200 volts to activate a collection of electrodes around the ball,’ he adds. The electrons are trapped so that the electrodes work even without light."
Designing computers that are so miniaturised is the area of expertise of David Blaauw, another co-founder of Phigi. A professor at the University of Michigan, he made a name for himself in 2015 with the development of the world's smallest computer, occupying less than one cubic millimetre. According to Rémy Tribhout, he developed this invention in three start-ups before Phigi.
Communication through contact
Micro-robots have no batteries or aerials, which may come as a surprise. How do they communicate? The movement instructions that make up the structure are in fact transmitted by a plate filled with electrodes (an ‘electrodock’ that serves as a base for the robots) that know the position of each robot, and then sent from one to the next by contact. The programming of movements is controlled by remote supervision software. "This software sends the information to the electrodock and calculates the mechanical strength of the robot assembly, while the structure reconfigures and stabilises itself, explains Rémy Tribhout. In this way, it compensates for the kinetic energy released by the robots, which resemble mini-inertia wheels, when they move from motion to rest. The aim is to ensure that the satellite's centre of mass is always balanced." Today, all the technological building blocks are working in the laboratory, he says, which places Phigi at level 3 on the TRL scale.
The mechanical strength of these robotic protuberances may be questionable, but that's the advantage of microgravity operations. The weight of the robots is not a problem, confirms Rémy Tribhout. "They move more easily and the absence of dust particles in space increases the cohesion achieved by electrostatic forces." Phigi originally intended to offer a rapid prototyping service on the good old cow floor, combining a digital twin with a physical twin made up of a swarm of robots - hence the name Phigi, inspired by this ‘phygital’ material. But as it stands, the electrostatic forces generated are insufficient to consolidate the structure.
Demonstration on board the ISS in 2027
Although its initial ambitions have not been abandoned, Phigi has decided to give priority to the space sector, which offers greater potential. And it has drawn up a roadmap for perfecting its technology: a parabolic flight simulating microgravity in 2026 with Cnes to test the movement of the robots, a demonstration in 2027 inside the International Space Station (ISS) to test remote control, then a demonstration in a chamber outside the ISS, in the vacuum of space exposed to cosmic radiation, which requires qualification.
All these stages will be necessary to validate the technology and the business model, according to the presentation at Hello Tomorrow. The service is not expected to be operational before 2032. However, Rémy Tribhout "hopes that a fund-raising round could accelerate the process."
Frédéric Monflier
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