Host: The Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers
Name : [in Japanese]
Date : May 29, 2024 - June 01, 2024
Molecular motors as a microrobots possess properties such as superior scalability, self-organization, and efficient energy conversion, making them potential research directions for the development of microrobots. Additionally, biomolecular artificial muscle, comprised of molecular motors and mechanical components, has garnered significant attention worldwide due to its productive fabrication process and flexible control ability. However, inherent restrictions pose challenges in achieving multi-motion capabilities, three-dimensional contractility, and higher force generation in biomolecular artificial muscle. This research focuses on improving force generation through microtubules in biomolecular artificial muscle and aims to develop a mechanical evaluation system to estimate their structural arrangement. Tetramethylrhodamine (TRITC) was labeled on the microtubules and observed in a fabricated PDMS microchannel. In this paper, we report and develop the experiment setups that observe the dynamics of microtubules in the microchannel.
