Journal
ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES
Volume 12, Issue 51, Pages 57587-57597Publisher
AMER CHEMICAL SOC
DOI: 10.1021/acsami.0c17518
Keywords
integrated assembly; manipulation; microparts; surface bubbles; microrobots; 3D printing
Funding
- National Natural Science Foundation of China [91748212, U1613220, 91848201, 61821005, 61903206]
- Key Research Program of Frontier Sciences, CAS [QYZDB-SSW-JSC008]
- CAS/SAFEA International Partnership Program for Creative Research Teams
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Industrial robots have been widely used for manufacturing and assembly in factories. However, at the microscale, most assembly technologies can only pattern the micromodules together loosely and can hardly combine the micromodules to directly form an entity that cannot be easily dispersed. In this study, surface bubbles are made to function as microrobots on a chip. These microrobots can move, fix, lift, and drop microparts and integratively assemble them into a tightly connected entity. As an example, the assembly of a pair of microparts with dovetails is considered. A jacklike bubble robot is used to lift and drop a micropart with a tail, whereas a mobile microrobot is used to push the other micropart with the corresponding socket to the proper position so that the tail can be inserted into the socket. The assembled microparts with the tail-socket joint can move as an entity without separation. Similarly, different types of parts are integratively assembled to form various structures such as gears, snake-shaped chains, and vehicles, which are then driven by bubble microrobots to perform different forms of movement. This assembly technology is simple and efficient and is expected to play an important role in micro-operation, modular assembly, and tissue engineering.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available