Universal Soft Robotic Microgripper.

Here, a soft robotic microgripper is presented that consists of a smart actuated microgel connected to a spatially photopatterned multifunctional base. When pressed onto a target object, the microgel component conforms to its shape, thus providing a simple and adaptive solution for versatile micromanipulation. Without the need for active visual or force feedback, objects of widely varying mechanical and surface properties are reliably gripped through a combination of geometrical interlocking mechanisms instantiated by reversible shape-memory and thermal responsive swelling of the microgel. The gripper applies holding forces exceeding 400 µN, which is high enough to lift loads 1000 times heavier than the microgel. An untethered version of the gripper is developed by remotely controlling the position using magnetic actuation and the contractile state of the microgel using plasmonic absorption. Gentle yet stable robotic manipulation of biological samples under physiological conditions opens up possibilities for high-throughput interrogation and minimally invasive interventions.

[1]  Raymond M Schiffelers,et al.  Nanomechanics of Extracellular Vesicles Reveals Vesiculation Pathways. , 2018, Small.

[2]  M. in het Panhuis,et al.  Self‐Healing Hydrogels , 2016, Advanced materials.

[3]  B. Nelson,et al.  Monolithically Fabricated Microgripper With Integrated Force Sensor for Manipulating Microobjects and Biological Cells Aligned in an Ultrasonic Field , 2007, Journal of Microelectromechanical Systems.

[4]  Metin Sitti,et al.  Dynamic trapping and two-dimensional transport of swimming microorganisms using a rotating magnetic microrobot. , 2014, Lab on a chip.

[5]  I. Lundström,et al.  Microrobots for micrometer-size objects in aqueous media: potential tools for single-cell manipulation. , 2000, Science.

[6]  Yang Liu,et al.  Nanoscale Optomechanical Actuators for Controlling Mechanotransduction in Living Cells , 2015, Nature Methods.

[7]  Hsi-Wen Tung,et al.  Noncontact manipulation using a transversely magnetized rolling robot , 2013 .

[8]  Angelo S. Mao,et al.  An Integrated Microrobotic Platform for On‐Demand, Targeted Therapeutic Interventions , 2014, Advanced materials.

[9]  Metin Sitti,et al.  Mobile microrobots for bioengineering applications. , 2017, Lab on a chip.

[10]  Adam W Feinberg,et al.  Biological Soft Robotics. , 2015, Annual review of biomedical engineering.

[11]  André R Studart,et al.  Self-shaping composites with programmable bioinspired microstructures , 2013, Nature Communications.

[12]  Jake J. Abbott,et al.  Robotics in the Small, Part I: Microbotics , 2007, IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine.

[13]  Hye Rin Kwag,et al.  Self-Folding Thermo-Magnetically Responsive Soft Microgrippers , 2015, ACS applied materials & interfaces.

[14]  L. Ionov.  Biomimetic Hydrogel‐Based Actuating Systems , 2013 .

[15]  Zhen Zheng,et al.  Unconventional Tough Double-Network Hydrogels with Rapid Mechanical Recovery, Self-Healing, and Self-Gluing Properties. , 2016, ACS applied materials & interfaces.

[16]  Angelo S. Mao,et al.  3D Printed Microtransporters: Compound Micromachines for Spatiotemporally Controlled Delivery of Therapeutic Agents , 2015, Advanced materials.

[17]  Thomas J. Wallin,et al.  3D printing of soft robotic systems , 2018, Nature Reviews Materials.

[18]  Guang-Zhong Yang,et al.  Emerging Robotic Platforms for Minimally Invasive Surgery , 2013, IEEE Reviews in Biomedical Engineering.

[19]  Daniela Rus,et al.  Design, fabrication and control of origami robots , 2018, Nature Reviews Materials.

[20]  Y. Yang,et al.  A hydrogel-based intravascular microgripper manipulated using magnetic fields , 2013, 2013 Transducers & Eurosensors XXVII: The 17th International Conference on Solid-State Sensors, Actuators and Microsystems (TRANSDUCERS & EUROSENSORS XXVII).

[21]  Heinrich M. Jaeger,et al.  Universal robotic gripper based on the jamming of granular material , 2010, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

[22]  M. Sitti,et al.  Three‐Dimensional Programmable Assembly by Untethered Magnetic Robotic Micro‐Grippers , 2014 .

[23]  Sub-nanometer stable precision MEMS clamping mechanism maintaining clamp force un-powerd for TEM application , 2005 .

[24]  Christopher S. Chen,et al.  3D Biomimetic Cultures: The Next Platform for Cell Biology. , 2016, Trends in cell biology.

[25]  Phelim Bradley,et al.  Corrigendum: Rapid antibiotic-resistance predictions from genome sequence data for Staphylococcus aureus and Mycobacterium tuberculosis , 2016, Nature Communications.

[26]  Savas Tasoglu,et al.  Multiscale assembly for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. , 2015, Trends in biotechnology.

[27]  D. Rus,et al.  Design, fabrication and control of soft robots , 2015, Nature.

[28]  K. Bente,et al.  Biohybrid and Bioinspired Magnetic Microswimmers. , 2018, Small.

[29]  Milica Radisic,et al.  Advances in organ-on-a-chip engineering , 2018, Nature Reviews Materials.

[30]  Hwan Chul Jeon,et al.  Controlled origami folding of hydrogel bilayers with sustained reversibility for robust microcarriers. , 2012, Angewandte Chemie.

[31]  D. Zhao,et al.  A facile soft-template synthesis of mesoporous polymeric and carbonaceous nanospheres , 2013, Nature Communications.