Manufacturing System of Micro-robots with Molecular Artificial Muscle

Abstract

Based on our previous research of artificial muscles formed by the self-assembly of molecular motors, a manufacturing system of micro-robots with such artificial muscles is proposed. The system was designed to mass-produce micro-robots utilizing stereolithography combined with microfluidics technology. The rail-guided technique was applied to locate artificial skeletons and make cross-solution movement. Moreover, the feasibility of using PEGDA hydrogels to fabricate artificial skeletons was evaluated through building models of artificial skeletons with different formulations of PEGDA hydrogels and simulating the loading process of artificial muscles. The simulation results proved that PEGDA hydrogels have enough mechanical strength to take the tension produced by artificial muscles.