I extensively researched free energy before and scam artists behind it. Believed it was real for a little while.
It's bullshit all of it.
If you want to attain energy freedom anyways, you don't need "free energy", you need decentralization of energy production. Stuff like your own personal nuclear reactor, solar panels, wind turbines, river water generators… and you will then have lots of electrical energy which you can use for powering all your stuff and you could work on robotics and whatever else you want.
The only thing I'm excited about is advances in battery technology. Something superior to the lithium ion battery I want to see. When is John Goodenough's crystal batteries going to come out?
What you think of these OP?
https://gizmodo.com/drop-this-underwater-turbine-in-any-river-for-free-cont-5967882
https://qz.com/929794/has-lithium-battery-genius-john-goodenough-done-it-again-colleagues-are-skeptical/
Actually OP I think John Goodenough might be exactly who you want to research.