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Bioinspired microrobots

2018

Article

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Microorganisms can move in complex media, respond to the environment and self-organize. The field of microrobotics strives to achieve these functions in mobile robotic systems of sub-millimetre size. However, miniaturization of traditional robots and their control systems to the microscale is not a viable approach. A promising alternative strategy in developing microrobots is to implement sensing, actuation and control directly in the materials, thereby mimicking biological matter. In this Review, we discuss design principles and materials for the implementation of robotic functionalities in microrobots. We examine different biological locomotion strategies, and we discuss how they can be artificially recreated in magnetic microrobots and how soft materials improve control and performance. We show that smart, stimuli-responsive materials can act as on-board sensors and actuators and that ‘active matter’ enables autonomous motion, navigation and collective behaviours. Finally, we provide a critical outlook for the field of microrobotics and highlight the challenges that need to be overcome to realize sophisticated microrobots, which one day might rival biological machines.

Author(s): Palagi, Stefano and Fischer, Peer
Journal: Nature Reviews Materials
Volume: 3
Pages: 113–124
Year: 2018
Month: May
Day: 10

Department(s): Micro, Nano, and Molecular Systems
Research Project(s): A wireless robot arm and the smallest micro- and nano-swimmers
Bibtex Type: Article (article)

DOI: 10.1038/s41578-018-0016-9
State: Published
URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41578-018-0016-9

BibTex

@article{2018palagi,
  title = {Bioinspired microrobots},
  author = {Palagi, Stefano and Fischer, Peer},
  journal = {Nature Reviews Materials},
  volume = {3},
  pages = {113–124},
  month = may,
  year = {2018},
  doi = {10.1038/s41578-018-0016-9},
  url = {https://www.nature.com/articles/s41578-018-0016-9},
  month_numeric = {5}
}