Exceptional point degeneracies, occurring in non-Hermitian systems, have challenged many well established concepts and led to the development of remarkable technologies. Here, we propose a family of autonomous motors whose operational principle relies on exceptional points via the opportune implementation of a (pseudo-)PT-symmetry and its spontaneous or explicit violation. These motors demonstrate a parameter domain of coexisting high efficiency and maximum work. In the photonic framework, they can be propelled by thermal radiation from the ambient thermal reservoirs and utilized as autonomous self-powered microrobots, or as micro-pumps for microfluidics in biological environments. The same designs can be also implemented with electromechanical elements for harvesting ambient mechanical (e.g., vibrational) noise for powering a variety of auxiliary systems. We expect that our proposal will contribute to the research agenda of energy harvesting by introducing concepts from mathematical and non-Hermitian wave physics.

非赫米特系统中发生的异常点退化已经挑战了许多公认的概念，并导致了非凡技术的发展。在这里，我们提出了一系列自动电动机，它们的运行原理依赖于（伪）PT对称性的适当实现及其自发或显式违反的例外点。这些电机展示了并存的高效率和最大工作量的参数域。在光子框架中，它们可以由周围储热器的热辐射推动，并用作自治的自供电微型机器人，或用作生物环境中微流体的微型泵。相同的设计也可以用机电元件来实现，以收集周围的机械（例如，振动）噪声，为各种辅助系统供电。我们希望我们的提案将通过引入数学和非赫米特波物理学的概念，为能量收集的研究议程做出贡献。