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Chinese scientists create tiny dancing humanoids with femtosecond laser blasts
Chinese scientists create tiny dancing humanoids with femtosecond laser blasts
This weekend, we bring you the story of how researchers in China developed a new laser printing technique to create flexible, dancing humanoid microrobots.
Using femtosecond laser pulses, they integrated movable microjoints into the tiny robots inspired by human flexibility. Far from being a plaything, this innovation unlocks possibilities for reconfigurable micromachines that could enable advances in microsensors, wearable devices, assisted limbs, and microsurgery. Get the full picture below.
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Chinese researchers have developed dancing humanoid microrobots using pulsed femtosecond lasers. The technique creates movable joints from hydrogels and metal nanoparticles. Inspired by human flexibility, the scientists can produce robots just microns in size that “dance” through various deformation modes.
The researchers from the University of Science and Technology of China used a two-in-one laser writing method. Femtosecond lasers use ultrashort pulses for precision 3D printing at the nanoscale. This allowed them to integrate microjoints into the soft robots. The joints change shape when exposed to light, enabling complex motions.
Potential applications include micro sensors, artificial muscles, and wearable devices. With further development, the technique could enable robots with multiple shape-changing joints for things like assisted limb devices. Terrestrial microrobots could also crawl, walk, or jump via light-induced linear or bending motions.
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The key innovation is the use of lasers to print both hydrogel joints and metal nanoparticles into the microbots. The hydrogels deform when exposed to light, while the nanoparticles further facilitate this response. This makes the tiny humanoid machines twist and bend their joints in a precise “dance” in response to changing light stimuli.
With over 10 deformation modes achieved so far, this technique unlocks new possibilities for building reconfigurable micromachines. But some limitations remain.
The team’s next goal is to increase functionality and control by integrating magnetic materials that would allow additional movement around an environment. This could enable more complex microrobots that are able to self-navigate while changing shape. The future possibilities as the technology develops and becomes more capable are exciting.
Click below to read the full story of its development and possible applications.
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“As humans can realize a variety of dancing movements through multiple joints, our microrobot also could reconstruct a variety of modalities (more than 10) using the collaboration between their microjoints.”
Xin Chen, University of Science and Technology of China
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