According to the research recently published in the journal Small, molecular mobile robots can swim in the water. The team from Hokkaido University led by Assistant Professor Yoshiyuki Kageyama had successfully created a microcrystal that utilizes self-continuous reciprocating motion for self-propulsion.
Figure 1 – a series of micrographs showing the movement of one of the synthesized microrobots in the study.
One of the key aspects of the microrobots and until recently one of the major challenges is self-propulsion or in other words the ability to move self-sustainably. To achieve the self-sustainable movement two major challenges had to be solved i.e. creation of a molecular robot that can reciprocally deform, and the ability to convert this deformation into propulsion of the molecular robot.
The Kageyama research team solved the self-propulsion problem of the molecular robot by confining the motion in two dimensions. In this system, the viscous resistance acts anisotropically which makes it negligibly weak. This molecular mobile robot is powered by blue light which drove a series of reactions and this leads to fin flipping and the propulsion. However, this motion is not continuous and occurs intermittently. The microrobot exhibit one of three different propulsion styles and these are: stroke, kick and side-stroke style. The mobility of a microrobot was affected by the area of the fin and its angle of elevation.
The computational minimum model was created in order to better understand the variables that affect the propulsion in the two-dimensional tank. The investigation showed that fin length, fin ratio, and elevation angle are the key variables that affect the direction and and pace of propulsion. The conducted investigation showed that tiny flippers can swim assisted by the anisotropy caused by confined spaces.
For more information check the full-length article: Obara, K., Kageyama, Y.,; Takeda, S. (2021). Self‐Propulsion of a Light‐Powered Microscopic Crystalline Flapper in Water. Small, 2105302.
One of the key aspects of the microrobots and until recently one of the major challenges is self-propulsion or in other words the ability to move self-sustainably. To achieve the self-sustainable movement two major challenges had to be solved i.e. creation of a molecular robot that can reciprocally deform, and the ability to convert this deformation into propulsion of the molecular robot.
The Kageyama research team solved the self-propulsion problem of the molecular robot by confining the motion in two dimensions. In this system, the viscous resistance acts anisotropically which makes it negligibly weak. This molecular mobile robot is powered by blue light which drove a series of reactions and this leads to fin flipping and the propulsion. However, this motion is not continuous and occurs intermittently. The microrobot exhibit one of three different propulsion styles and these are: stroke, kick and side-stroke style. The mobility of a microrobot was affected by the area of the fin and its angle of elevation.
The computational minimum model was created in order to better understand the variables that affect the propulsion in the two-dimensional tank. The investigation showed that fin length, fin ratio, and elevation angle are the key variables that affect the direction and and pace of propulsion. The conducted investigation showed that tiny flippers can swim assisted by the anisotropy caused by confined spaces.
For more information check the full-length article: Obara, K., Kageyama, Y.,; Takeda, S. (2021). Self‐Propulsion of a Light‐Powered Microscopic Crystalline Flapper in Water. Small, 2105302.
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