Drive of Peristaltic Micro-Gel Robot by Using Laser Irradiation

Abstract

Soft robots have been attracting a lot of attentions in recent years because they have completely different characteristics from conventional robots having rigid structures. We have proposed a soft microrobot using a thermoresponsive gel as a soft actuator. This robot can be driven by being irradiated with light for controlling its temperature. In this study, we drive a robot having three gel actuators with a straight shape with peristaltic motion by scanning the robot with a laser. We evaluated actuation timing of each actuator and a displacement of the robot during the peristaltic motion.