Cilia metasurfaces for electronically programmable microfluidic manipulation

Soft-robotic ciliated epidermis for reconfigurable coordinated fluid manipulation

“…The soft-robotic ciliated epidermises demonstrate their capability to transport fluids on various surfaces, including static and dynamically deforming 3D surfaces, which is superior to previous ciliainspired transportation techniques that either require rigid substrates (11,21,22) or have a strong coupling between the actuation signals and the surface morphology (15,17). The ability to achieve the reconfigurable coordination of the multiple independently controlled actuators is another advantage over many previous ciliary devices and is the key to realizing the reconfigurable and agile control of the flow direction and strength.…”

“…However, their internal cavity design and molding process make a single actuator longer than 1 cm. Artificial cilia driven by electrostatic force ( 21 ) and electrochemical reactions ( 22 ) have lengths less than 100 μm, and their coordination can be reconfigured to produce different flow patterns. However, they can only be fabricated on rigid silicon substrates, excluding them from being deployed on 3D surfaces.…”

Optimal kinematics of the bee tongue for viscous fluid transport

“…44 Our discovery of nonuniformity in the dipping strokes and the related mathematical illustration may open up a new way to quantify the environmental adaptability of pollinators in nature and inspire the development of a viscous fluid transporter equipped with dynamic hairy surfaces. 47…”

Multicomponent and multifunctional integrated miniature soft robots

“…The highly controllable structural deformation of the miniature robots enables them to imitate the locomotion of living organisms such as cilia arrays, starfish larvae, midge larvae, and jellyfish and provides robotic platforms to unveil their underlying physical mechanisms. [10][11][12][13][14] In addition, the development of smart materials (such as stimuli-responsive materials, selfhealing materials, and biomaterials) and fabrication technologies endow miniature soft robots with various functionalities, further promoting their practical applications. [15][16][17][18] To imitate the versatility and adaptability of natural organisms, miniature soft robotic systems with heterogeneous architectures need to be constructed.…”

“…38 Various technologies have been proposed to achieve the seamless integration of multiple components, including semiconductor and microelectronic techniques, modular assembly based on self-healing and welding, modular assembly based on bonding agents, laser machining technique, template assisted method with modular material design, and 3D printing techniques. 10,[39][40][41][42][43][44][45] This review intends to provide an overview of the latest development in multicomponent and multifunctional integrated miniature soft robots and a perspective for future multifunctional miniature robots. The diverse actuation units and functional units for soft robotic systems are introduced at the beginning and the available integration methods are summarized (Fig.…”