Monolithically Assembled 3D Soft Transformable Robot

Abstract

There have been extensive studies on soft robots made of various soft polymeric materials to complement conventional rigid robots. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7] Among polymeric materials, liquid crystalline networks (LCNs) have mainly been investigated for soft robotic applications. [8][9][10][11][12][13] Such materials have the advantage of mimicking biological systems on a small scale, being stimuli responsive, and can be operated according to the orientation state of the liquid crystalline moieties inside. [14][15][16][17][18][19][20] When the ordered orientation of the liquid crystalline moieties in the LCNs is distorted to an isotropic state by an external stimulus, actuation occurs because the prevailing form is deformed. [21][22][23] Upon removing the external stimulus, the LCNs fully recover their original orientation state inside and thus the external forms owing to the stably cross-linked network structure. [3,9,10,22] These systems can be actuated using various external stimuli such as light, [14,[24][25][26] heat, [27] electricity, [28,29] and magnetism. [30,31] Among the various actuation methods, light-driven actuation has the advantage of enabling the selective and independent movement of LCNs by an appropriate wavelength of irradiating light and precise remote control over their

Control of Self-Winding Microrobot Using an Electromagnetic Drive System: Integration of Movable Electromagnetic Coil and Permanent Magnet

“…In this study, we adopt the authors' previous research results: conventional 4D printing of microrobots. Briefly, the requirement for two layers with distinct physical properties, such as Young's modulus, coefficient of thermal expansion, density, and pH, leads to constraints associated with material selection and extended printing times [20][21][22][23]. Utiliz- Using a delta-driven structure, multiple coils are strategically positioned close to the starting point of the designated track [17][18][19].…”