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Updated: Jun 12, 2026

Free-form Light Actuators — Fabrication and Control of Actuation in Microscopic Scale

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Published on: May 25, 2016

Hierarchical laser-programmed soft actuators for designing bionic robots with freeform morphing shapes.

Yuhan Guo¹, Mingguang Han¹, Weixiong Yang¹

¹School of Mechanical Engineering & Automation, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China.

Science Advances

|June 10, 2026

Summary

Researchers developed laser-programmed soft actuators (LIG-SAs) for adaptable robots. This technology enables complex 3D movements, overcoming limitations of traditional methods for advanced soft robotics.

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Area of Science:

Materials Science
Robotics
Additive Manufacturing

Background:

Soft robots require adaptable actuators for complex 3D motions.
Traditional stimulus-responsive actuators face limitations in manufacturing simplicity and kinematic sophistication.

Purpose of the Study:

To introduce a laser-programming technology for digital manufacturing of laser-induced graphene-based soft actuators (LIG-SAs).
To achieve freeform morphing capabilities in soft actuators by overcoming existing trade-offs.

Main Methods:

Spatially differentiated laser-programming technology was employed.
Cross-scale control of lasing energy and scribing direction tuned material heterogeneity and structural hierarchy.
Decoupled electrothermal distribution and stiffness anisotropy were introduced.

Main Results:

Laser-induced graphene-based soft actuators (LIG-SAs) were encoded with four motion units: straight bending, directional curling, rigid supporting, and soft connecting.
Multimodal morphing units were grouped into bionic robots, including octopus-like tentacles and inchworm/seal-like crawlers.
The developed actuators demonstrated multitask locomotion capabilities like conformal grasping, path navigation, and obstacle avoidance.

Conclusions:

The developed framework bridges digital design with physical intelligence for soft robots.
This approach unlocks new avenues for creating sophisticated and programmable soft robot morphologies.
The technology enables advanced adaptability and complex motions essential for next-generation soft robotics.