Topic: Materials for Small-Scale Robotics

We live in a world increasingly surrounded by robots such as robotic surgical systems, flying drones, autonomous planetary rovers, and robotic appliances. An emerging family of robotic systems are untethered micro- and nanorobots. These tiny vehicles can move either by harvesting chemical fuels present in their swimming environments or by means of external energy sources. One of the ultimate goals of small-scale robotics is to develop machines that can deliver drugs, or realize other medical missions in confined spaces of the human body. Other applications include water remediation or "on the-fly" chemistry. The recent rapid developments in small-scale robotics is undeniably related to advances in material science and manufacturing. However, while many applications have been demonstrated, aspects such as complex locomotion, multifunctionality, biocompatibility and biodegradability need to be further investigated for the successful translation of these devices to real applications. To this end, new material based concepts and novel fabrication schemes are urgently required.

In this talk, I will introduce one of our latest developments in small-scale robotics. We will show how 3D printed microtemplates can be exploited to produce complex robotic microstructures made of rigid metals, soft polymers and combinations of these. As a result, topologically complex metal-organic structures can be realized with sub-micrometric resolution. I will also demonstrate that metal-organic interlocked micromachines can solve several practical challenges in small-scale robotics. We show that high magnetic responsiveness, drug loading capabilities, biocompatibility, on-demand shape transformation, and multi locomotion modes can be embedded in a single microrobotic machine.