Electronically configurable microscopic metasheet robots

Area of Science:

• Robotics
• Materials Science
• Metamaterials

Background:

• Microscopic locomotion is crucial for organisms but difficult to engineer in robots.
• Miniaturization challenges have limited the development of shape-morphing micro-robots.

Purpose of the Study:

• To demonstrate microscopic, electronically configurable, morphing metasheet robots.
• To overcome miniaturization challenges in creating shape-morphing micro-robots.

Main Methods:

• Utilized kirigami structures with electrochemically actuated hinges (10 nm to 100 μm).
• Organized panels into unit cells capable of 40% expansion/contraction within 100 ms.
• Tiled unit cells into metasheets with over 200 hinges and independent electronic actuation regions.

Main Results:

• Achieved local expansion in sub-millimetre robots (~1 mm).
• Enabled robots to switch between multiple target geometries with distinct curvature distributions.
• Generated locomotory gaits through electronically actuated regions with prescribed phase delays.

Conclusions:

• Advanced a metamaterial paradigm for microscopic, continuum, compliant, programmable robots.
• Paved the way for reconfigurable micromachines, tunable optical metasurfaces, and miniaturized biomedical devices.