Femtosecond laser programmed artificial musculoskeletal systems

Natural musculoskeletal systems have been widely recognized as an advanced robotic model for designing robust yet flexible microbots. However, the development of artificial musculoskeletal systems at micro-nanoscale currently remains a big challenge, since it requires precise assembly of two or more materials of distinct properties into complex 3D micro/nanostructures. In this study, we report femtosecond laser programmed artificial musculoskeletal systems for prototyping 3D microbots, using relatively stiff SU-8 as the skeleton and pH-responsive protein (bovine serum albumin, BSA) as the smart muscle. To realize the programmable integration of the two materials into a 3D configuration, a successive on-chip two-photon polymerization (TPP) strategy that enables structuring two photosensitive materials sequentially within a predesigned configuration was proposed. As a proof-of-concept, we demonstrate a pH-responsive spider microbot and a 3D smart micro-gripper that enables controllable grabbing and releasing. Our strategy provides a universal protocol for directly printing 3D microbots composed of multiple materials.