School of Mechanical Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, 47907, USA.
Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, 47907, USA.
Small. 2024 Nov;20(47):e2404311. doi: 10.1002/smll.202404311. Epub 2024 Jul 23.
Microrobots show great potential in biomedical applications such as drug delivery and cell manipulations. However, current microrobots are mostly fabricated as a single entity and type and the tasks they can perform are limited. In this paper, modular microrobots, with an overall size of 120 µm × 200 µm, are proposed with responsive mating components, made from stimuli-responsive hydrogels, and application specific end-effectors for microassembly tasks. The modular microrobots are fabricated based on photolithography and two-photon polymerization together or separately. Two types of modular microrobots are created based on the location of the responsive mating component. The first type of modular microrobot has a mating component that can shrink upon stimulation, while the second type has a double bilayer structure that can realize an open and close motion. The exchange of end-effectors with an identical actuation base is demonstrated for both types of microrobots. Finally, different manipulation tasks are performed with different types of end-effectors.
微型机器人在药物输送和细胞操作等生物医学应用中具有巨大的潜力。然而，目前的微型机器人大多是作为单一实体和类型制造的，它们可以执行的任务有限。在本文中，提出了一种模块化微型机器人，其整体尺寸为 120µm×200µm，具有响应式配合组件，由对刺激响应的水凝胶制成，并具有用于微装配任务的专用末端执行器。模块化微型机器人是基于光刻和双光子聚合技术一起或分别制造的。根据响应式配合组件的位置，创建了两种类型的模块化微型机器人。第一种类型的模块化微型机器人具有可在刺激下收缩的配合组件，而第二种类型的微型机器人具有可实现打开和关闭运动的双层结构。展示了两种类型的微型机器人如何与具有相同致动基座的末端执行器进行交换。最后，使用不同类型的末端执行器执行不同的操作任务。
