A remotely light-driven micro-soft-bodied robotic machine and methods of making and manipulating the same

By doping infrared-absorbing carbon nanomaterials into flexible materials and designing micro-nano structure arrays with different periods, remote optical actuation of micro soft robots is achieved using infrared light stimulation. This solves the problems of miniaturization and motion flexibility of micro robots, and realizes safe, efficient and stable microscale motion.

CN116277158BActive Publication Date: 2026-02-06XI AN JIAOTONG UNIV
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Patent Information

Application Number
CN202310405809.1
Authority / Receiving Office
CN · China
Patent Type
Patents(China)
Current Assignee / Owner
Filing Date
2023-04-14
Publication Date
2026-02-06
Estimated Expiration
2043-04-14

AI Technical Summary

Technical Problem

Existing microrobots struggle to achieve miniaturization and mobility, while also presenting challenges such as limited battery power, complex electromagnetic structures, and safety concerns.

Method used

By employing a remote light-driven method, infrared-absorbing carbon nanomaterials are doped into a flexible material, and deformation driving force is generated by infrared light stimulation. Combined with micro-nano structure arrays of different periods and morphologies, selective absorption and motion control of infrared light can be achieved.

Benefits of technology

It enables safe, efficient, and stable movement of micro soft robots at a tiny scale, avoiding the limitations of traditional mechanical structures and possessing environmental adaptability and remote driving capabilities.

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Abstract

The application discloses a remote light-driven micro-soft robot and a manufacturing and operation method thereof, and can be applied to non-structural operation environments such as environment monitoring, debris search and rescue, medical diagnosis and military investigation. The micro-soft robot mainly comprises micro-nano column support legs; the movement of the micro-soft robot is determined by the micro-nano column support legs and the interaction between the micro-nano column support legs and the environment; under the irradiation of infrared light with a certain frequency, the silicon rubber driving part doped with an infrared absorption material responds to external infrared light stimulation, converts the external infrared light stimulation into heat, and promotes the silicon rubber to expand and contract, so as to provide driving force for the soft robot. The micro-soft robot has simple structure and is not limited by traditional mechanical structures, and can realize safe, effective and stable movement under remote light driving.
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Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present application belongs to the field of micro-nano manufacturing technology, and relates to a driving component based on a flexible micro-nano structure, a micro-soft robot capable of controlled movement by remote light regulation, and a manufacturing and control method thereof. BACKGROUND

[0002] With the development of society and the rapid changes in technology, people have put forward higher standards for medical health, quality of life, and environmental safety. Micro-robots have wide application prospects in the fields of biomedicine, environmental monitoring, and national defense security. Therefore, the development of micro-robots will not only have a major impact on these fields, but will also bring about great technological and conceptual changes.

[0003] Since micro-robots have to face various complex and variable environments and unknown obstacles, in order to prevent system failure in certain situations (such as corrosion, bacteria, mechanical deformation, packaging leakage, etc.), micro-robots need to better adapt to the environment and achieve controllable movement in complex irregular environments. The design and manufacture of micro-robots not only consider the feasibility, controllability and size effect of movement, but also consider the environmental compatibility of micro-robots and the matching of their electrical performance and mechanical structure. Traditional micro-robots relying on electricity as a power source have limited battery energy, and there is a problem of toxic substance leakage from the battery, making it impossible for them to work for a long time. Complex electromagnetic structures make it difficult for robots to further miniaturize, and cannot meet the application requirements; while micro-soft robots imitate soft-bodied animals in nature and are made of flexible materials, with unlimited degrees of freedom and continuous deformation ability, and have strong environmental adaptability. However, the size of the soft robot is still difficult to achieve microscale, because the van der Waals force and capillary force generated by the contact surface strongly bond the surface objects, limiting their movement behavior. On the other hand, for the power problem of micro-soft robots, although flexible composite materials can convert stress and strain under external field stimulation into driving force of the device, for micro-soft robots driven by gas / liquid pressure, artificial muscles, shape memory materials, etc., their movement flexibility, moving distance and walking route are limited in special environments such as small pipes and narrow complex spaces; and for micro-soft robots controlled by electricity and magnetism, electromagnetic shielding and interference, the directionality of electromagnetic field and the toxic side effects of doped electromagnetic substances must be considered, which poses a hidden danger to the safety and reliability of the system. Therefore, the power and driving mode of micro-robots determines whether the micro-robot system can work more safely, effectively and stably. SUMMARY

[0004] The present application provides a remote light-driven micro-soft robot and a manufacturing and control method thereof, which solves the problem that existing robots cannot achieve miniaturization and movement flexibility at the same time.

[0005] To achieve the above object, the present application adopts the following technical solutions:

[0006] A manufacturing method of a remote light-driven micro-soft-body robot, comprising the following steps:

[0007] S1, preparing a mold with a plurality of different period micro-nano hole arrays;

[0008] S2, spin coating a precursor solution of a flexible elastic material on a flat substrate, and heating and curing after the precursor solution is leveled;

[0009] S3, doping infrared-absorbing carbon nano-materials in the flexible elastic material to obtain a carbon-containing slurry, coating the carbon-containing slurry on the mold, and filling the carbon-containing slurry into all the micro-nano hole arrays of the mold;

[0010] S4, performing hydrophilic treatment on the back base and adsorbing it on the coated carbon-containing slurry;

[0011] S5, pre-curing the carbon-containing slurry to a semi-solid state to obtain a plurality of driving legs in the micro-nano hole array holes, then completely curing it, and finally demolding to obtain a plurality of micro-nano structure arrays with different periods, the micro-nano structure array comprising a plurality of nanocolumn structure driving legs, and obtaining a micro-soft-body robot.

[0012] Further, in step S1, the hole diameter of the micro-nano hole array of the mold is 300nm-50μm, and the depth is 1um-200μm.

[0013] Further, in step S2, the flexible elastic material is polydimethylsiloxane or polyvinylidene fluoride.

[0014] Further, in step S5, when the flexible elastic material is polydimethylsiloxane, the curing temperature of the flexible elastic material and the doped carbon nano-material is 60℃-160℃; when the flexible elastic material is polyvinylidene fluoride, the curing temperature of the flexible elastic material and the doped carbon nano-material is 80℃-120℃.

[0015] Further, in step S3, the infrared-absorbing carbon material is carbon nanotube, graphene sheet or graphene oxide sheet; the mass of the doped carbon nano-material is 5%-10% of the mass of the flexible elastic material.

[0016] A remote light-driven micro-soft-body robot, comprising a back base, a driving component fixed on the back base, the driving component comprising a substrate and a plurality of micro-nano structure arrays fixed on the substrate, each micro-nano structure array comprising a plurality of array-arranged driving legs, the driving legs doped with infrared-absorbing materials, and the different nano structure arrays having different response wavelengths.

[0017] Further, the free end of the driving leg is provided with a tip.

[0018] Further, the back base and the outer surface of the driving part are covered with a fluororesin film.

[0019] A control method of a remote light-driven micro-soft robot, which realizes the motion control of the micro-soft robot by controlling the frequency, size and direction of infrared light.

[0020] Further, the driving part arranged at the front of the back base of the remote light-driven micro-soft robot is Z1, the driving part arranged at the back is Z4, the driving part arranged at the left is Z2, and the driving part arranged at the right is Z3; when the external light field is irradiated by infrared light with a wavelength of 700nm-2.6um, Z1 has strong light absorption characteristics for the infrared light with this wavelength, converts the light energy into heat energy, and Z1 generates a deformation force much larger than that of other areas, thereby driving the micro-soft robot to move forward; when the wavelength of the external light field is switched to 50.0um-100.0um, Z4 has strong light absorption characteristics compared with other areas, generates a larger deformation, thereby realizing backward movement; when the wavelength of the external light field is switched to 2.6um-25.0um, Z2 has strong light absorption characteristics compared with other areas, generates a larger deformation, thereby realizing left turning; similarly, when the light field is switched to 25.0um-50.0um, right turning is realized; and acceleration and deceleration motion control is realized by increasing or decreasing the light intensity; when the light is stopped, the micro-soft robot gradually stops moving.

[0021] Compared with the prior art, the present application has at least the following beneficial technical effects:

[0022] The driving part is composed of carbon material with infrared absorption characteristics doped in flexible elastic material, which can quickly respond to infrared light stimulation to produce different degrees of deformation, promote the expansion and contraction of the flexible elastic material, and thus generate directional driving force, due to the large temperature expansion coefficient and the difference in Young's modulus; and by arranging micro-nano arrays of different sizes, shapes and periods in different areas of the soft robot, selective absorption of infrared light of different wavelengths, sizes and directions is realized; the soft robot is separated from the surface of the moving environment by the micro-nano column structure, thereby greatly reducing the resistance generated by contact with the surface at a small scale. Therefore, the micro-soft robot provided by the present application has simple structure and is not limited by traditional mechanical structures, and can realize safe, effective and stable motion under remote light driving.

[0023] Further, the base driving part is separated from the environment by micro-nano fibers coated with a hydrophobic layer, thereby greatly reducing the motion resistance and motion delay at a small scale.

[0024] The soft robot control method provided by the application realizes movement control of the micro-soft robot by controlling the frequency, intensity, direction and duration of the infrared light, thereby realizing movement in different directions, so that the remote driving can be adjusted at a long distance through the infrared light; the infrared light has strong penetration and long-distance energy transmission characteristics, and can realize wireless remote driving of the micro-soft robot. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0025] Figure 1a The overall shape of the micro-soft robot;

[0026] Figure 1b The overall shape of the micro-soft robot;

[0027] Figure 2 The micro-nanopore array silicone rubber mold obtained by twice replication;

[0028] Figure 3 The back base component of the micro-soft robot obtained by spin coating;

[0029] Figure 4 The mold hole array is filled with carbon-containing PDMS slurry;

[0030] Figure 5 The micro-soft robot base integration is realized by plasma oxygen treatment of the back base component;

[0031] Figure 6 The shaping of the support leg driving component with different micro-nanopillar structures;

[0032] Figure 7a The final micro-soft robot profile obtained after surface fluorination hydrophobic treatment;

[0033] Figure 7b The final micro-soft robot bottom view obtained after surface fluorination hydrophobic treatment;

[0034] Figure 7c The final micro-soft robot top view obtained after surface fluorination hydrophobic treatment;

[0035] Figure 8 The micro-soft robot is controlled by infrared light to realize directional movement,

[0036] (a) is a support leg driving component different infrared light energy conversion area structure distribution diagram;

[0037] (b) shows that applying light of wavelength λ1 realizes forward movement, and applying light of wavelength λ4 realizes backward movement;

[0038] (c) is the application of light of wavelength λ3 realizes left movement;

[0039] (d) is to apply light of lambda 4 wavelength to realize right movement.

[0040] In the drawings: 1, mold; 2, substrate; 3, back base; 4, slurry; 5, driving leg; 6, micro soft robot; 7, base; 8, end. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0041] In order to make the purpose and technical scheme of the present application more clear and convenient to understand. The following will be further described in detail in combination with the drawings and examples, the specific examples described herein are only used to explain the present application, and not used to limit the present application.

[0042] In the description of the present application, it is understood that the terms "center", "longitudinal", "transverse", "upper", "lower", "front", "rear", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "top", "bottom", "inner", "outer" and the like indicate the orientation or positional relationship shown in the drawings, which is only for the convenience of describing the present application and simplifying the description, and does not indicate or imply that the device or element referred to must have a particular orientation, be constructed and operated in a particular orientation, therefore it cannot be understood as a limitation on the present application. In addition, the terms "first", "second" are only for the purpose of description, and cannot be understood as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of the technical features indicated. Therefore, the features with "first", "second" can be explicitly or implicitly included one or more of the features. In the description of the present application, unless otherwise specified, the meaning of "a plurality of" is two or more. In the description of the present application, it should be noted that, unless otherwise specified and limited, the terms "mounting", "connecting", "connecting" should be understood broadly, for example, it can be fixedly connected, or it can be detachably connected, or integrally connected; it can be mechanically connected, or it can be electrically connected; it can be directly connected, or it can be indirectly connected through an intermediate medium, or it can be the communication between two elements inside. For those skilled in the art, the specific meaning of the above terms in the present application can be understood according to the specific circumstances.

[0043] Sunflower is named because its young flower disc will follow the sun. Under the irradiation of sunlight, the content of auxin on the back light side of sunflower increases, causing the elongation of stem cells on the back light side, so that the stem cells bend to the light source. The principle of sunflower bending to light provides a new idea and reference for the driving and control of micro soft robot. Therefore, a micro soft robot capable of realizing the pose adjustment and motion control of the device by remote infrared light control is designed and manufactured, which will break through the bottleneck of traditional micro robot in complex environment adaptability, miniaturization, remote driving and some contradictory problems, and greatly improve the safety and controllability of micro soft robot.

[0044] Referring to Figures 2 to 6 A manufacturing method of a remote light-driven micro soft robot, comprising the following steps:

[0045] S1, a mold 1 with multiple different micro-nano hole array distributions is designed and prepared by a master replication method, and the mold 1 is flexible and elastic; wherein the hole diameter in the micro-nano hole array of the mold 1 is 300 nm-100 μm, and the depth is 1 um-200 μm.

[0046] S2, a back base body 3 of the micro soft robot is manufactured: a precursor solution of undoped flexible and elastic material is spin-coated on a plane substrate 2, and after the precursor solution is naturally leveled, it is heated and solidified; in step 2, the flexible and elastic material can be polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) or polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) and the like.

[0047] S3, a driving component of the micro soft robot is manufactured: an infrared-absorbing carbon nano material is doped in the flexible and elastic material to obtain a carbon-containing slurry, which is uniformly stirred, coated on the silicon mold 1, and fully filled into all micro-nano hole arrays of the mold 1 by vacuumizing; wherein the infrared-absorbing carbon material can be carbon nanotubes, graphene sheets or graphene oxide sheets. The mass of the doped carbon nano material is 5%-10% of the mass of the flexible and elastic material.

[0048] S4, integration of the base body: the back base body 3 is treated by plasma oxygen, and is adsorbed on the coated carbon-containing slurry by flat pressing;

[0049] S5, manufacturing different micro-nano structure arrays with light absorption energy conversion adjustment function: the carbon-containing slurry is heated and pre-solidified to become semi-solid state, so as to be mechanically stretched, to obtain different micro-structures of the driving leg 5 position in the holes of the micro-nano hole array, and heated at 160℃ to completely solidify, and finally demolded to obtain multiple different micro-nano structure arrays, the micro-nano structure array including a plurality of nano pillar structure driving legs 5;

[0050] Wherein, for PDMS and its doped carbon nano material, the solidification temperature is 60℃-160℃, and the solidification time is about half an hour; for PVDF and its doped carbon nano material, the solidification temperature is 80℃-120℃, and the solidification time is greater than half an hour.

[0051] S6, surface treatment: the obtained driving leg is put into a fluororesin solution for treatment, so as to cover the surface with a fluororesin film, the fluororesin film being hydrophobic and harder than PDMS, transparent and flexible, and having lower surface energy than PDMS, so as to finally obtain a micro soft robot. The fluororesin composition is hydrophobic and harder than PDMS, transparent and flexible, and has lower surface energy than PDMS.

[0052] Referring to Figure 1a andFigure 1b The remote light-driven micro-soft robot manufactured by the remote light-driven micro-soft robot manufacturing method is manufactured by the remote light-driven micro-soft robot manufacturing method, comprising a back base 3, wherein the driving component is fixed on the back base 3, the driving component comprises a substrate 7 and a plurality of micro-nano structure arrays, the micro-nano structure arrays and the substrate 7 are integrally formed, each micro-nano structure array comprises a plurality of arrayed driving legs 5. The period of different micro-nano structure arrays and the diameter of the driving legs 5 are different, and the driving legs 5 are cylindrical. The free end of the driving leg 5 is provided with a tip 8, and the shape of the tip 8 can be needle-shaped, conical, mushroom-shaped, square or cylindrical.

[0053] Preferably, four nano structure arrays Z1, Z2, Z3 and Z4 spaced 90° are arranged on the substrate 7, and the response wavelengths of the four nano structure arrays are different. The shapes of the tips 8 can be the same or different, which are set according to the actual situation. The robot is separated from the environment by the micro-nano structure array, which maximally reduces the movement resistance at the micro scale.

[0054] The period of the micro-nano structure array in the Z1 region is 600 nm-2.6 um, the diameter of the driving leg 5 is 300 nm-1.3 um, and the top end is needle-shaped; wherein the period refers to the spacing between two adjacent driving legs 5.

[0055] The period of the micro-nano structure array in the Z2 region is 2.6 um-25 um, the diameter of the driving leg 5 is 1.3 um-12.5 um, and the top end is needle-shaped;

[0056] The period of the micro-nano structure array in the Z3 region is 25 um-50 um, the diameter of the driving leg 5 is 12.5 um-25.0 um, and the top end is mushroom-shaped;

[0057] The period of the micro-nano structure array in the Z4 region is 50.0 um-100.0 um, the diameter of the driving leg 5 is 25.0 um-50.0 um, and the top end is square-shaped. Each region has different micro-nano structure periods and morphologies, and has different waveband light absorption selection characteristics.

[0058] The driving component is composed of a flexible and elastic material doped with carbon nanomaterial, which can quickly respond to infrared light stimulation.

[0059] The plane of the back base 3 is used to install a micro-detection sensing device (camera) and a load skeleton, and one side of the back base 3 is provided with a nano structure array.

[0060] The driving component is composed of a flexible and elastic material doped with carbon nanomaterial, which can quickly respond to infrared light stimulation.

[0061] Reference Figure 8, the motion control of the micro-soft robot: under the irradiation of infrared light, the micro-nano structure array doped with infrared absorbing carbon material absorbs infrared light of a certain frequency, generates strong deformation through photothermal effect, and thus makes the elastic material expand and contract, driving the device to move in a certain direction; because different parts of the micro-soft robot absorb different infrared light, by controlling the frequency, intensity, direction and time of the infrared light, the deformation of different parts can be realized, so as to realize the control of different motion directions.

[0062] The spectral frequency of the taken infrared light is 760nm-100um.

[0063] Example 1

[0064] A manufacturing method of a remote light-driven micro-soft robot, comprising the following steps:

[0065] Step 1) Refer to Figure 2 , manufacturing a silicon rubber hole array mold 1: first, a silicon-based micro-nano hole array mold is made by using photoetching and etching process, and then a master copy method is used for twice copying to obtain the mold 1, the mold 1 is provided with a plurality of micro-nano hole arrays, and each micro-nano hole array comprises a plurality of micro-nano holes;

[0066] Step 2) Refer to Figure 3 , manufacturing the back base body 3 of the micro-soft robot: the undoped PDMS solution is spin-coated on the glass substrate 2, and after natural leveling for 30 minutes in a vacuum environment, it is heated at 70℃ for 1.5 hours for curing, and the cured PDMS is subjected to plasma oxygen treatment for 1 minute to obtain the back base body 3;

[0067] Step 3) Refer to Figure 4 , filling the mold hole array: the graphene is doped in the PDMS solution at a mass fraction of 5%, and after uniform stirring for half an hour, the carbon-containing PDMS slurry is obtained, which is coated on the mold 1, and the carbon-containing PDMS slurry is fully filled into the hole array of the mold through vacuum suction;

[0068] Step 4) Refer to Figure 5 , integrating the base body, the back base body part 3 subjected to plasma oxygen treatment is adsorbed on the coated carbon-containing PDMS slurry by flat pressing;

[0069] Step 5) Refer to Figure 6 , manufacturing driving components with different micro-nano structures, which have light absorption energy conversion adjustment function: first, heat pre-curing to make the carbon-containing PDMS slurry become semi-solid state, then perform mechanical stretching to form micro-nano structures on different driving component parts, then heat at 160℃ for half an hour to completely solidify, and finally demold to obtain driving legs 5 with different micro-nano column structures;

[0070] Step 5) Referring to Figures 7a-7c , remove the glass substrate 2 to obtain the micro-soft body robot 6 with different support leg driving components, and place it in a fluororesin solution for processing to cover the surface with a fluororesin film, thereby reducing the resistance of the environment during movement.

[0071] Referring to Figure 8 , the movement process of the micro-soft body robot prepared in Example 1 under the manipulation of a remote infrared light with a wavelength of 1 cm-1 m is as follows:

[0072] The driving components of the micro-soft body robot include four micro-nano structure arrays, as shown in Figure 8 (a) of the drawings, the Z1 region is arranged at the position close to the front end face of the back base 3, the Z4 region is arranged at the position close to the rear end face of the back base 3, the Z2 region is arranged at the position close to the left end face of the back base 3, and the Z3 region is arranged at the position close to the right end face of the back base 3.

[0073] The period of the micro-nano structure array of the Z1 region is taken as 800 nm, the driving leg 5 has a diameter of 400 nm, and the top end is needle-shaped;

[0074] The period of the micro-nano structure array of the Z2 region is taken as 10 um, the driving leg 5 has a diameter of 5 um, and the top end is needle-shaped;

[0075] The period of the micro-nano structure array of the Z3 region is taken as 40 um, the driving leg 5 has a diameter of 20 um, and the top end is mushroom-shaped;

[0076] The period of the micro-nano structure array of the Z4 region is taken as 80 um, the driving leg 5 has a diameter of 40 um, and the top end is square-shaped. Each region has different micro-nano structure periods and morphologies, and has different light absorption selection characteristics in different wave bands.

[0077] Adjust the material parameters so that the period (P) of the micro-nano structure array and the absorption light wavelength (λ) satisfy the relationship P = λ, and the diameter D = P / 2, so that the micro-nano structure array with a period of P can respond to light with a wavelength of λ.

[0078] The Z1 region has strong light absorption characteristics for near-infrared light with a wavelength of λ1 = 800 nm, and this region can generate a deformation force much larger than that of other regions, thereby driving the micro-soft body robot to move forward;

[0079] When the wavelength of the external light field is switched to λ4 = 80 um, the Z4 region has stronger light absorption characteristics than other regions, and can generate a larger deformation, thereby realizing backward movement, as shown in Figure 8 (b) of the drawings, and the speed of movement can be controlled by controlling the irradiation intensity of the infrared light;

[0080] When the wavelength of the external light field is converted to λ2=10um, the Z2 region has stronger light absorption characteristics than other regions, can produce larger deformation, and thus realizes left turning, as shown in (c) of FIG. 6. Figure 8 Similarly, when the light field is switched to λ3=40um, right turning is realized, as shown in (d) of FIG. 6; in this way, under irradiation of a large-area infrared light field, the movement of the micro-soft robot can be controlled by adjusting the characteristics of the external infrared light field, without the need to focus the external light field to a certain part of the micro-soft robot, the characteristics of the infrared light field including wavelength, direction, light irradiation time, etc. Figure 8

[0081] The acceleration and deceleration movement of the robot can be controlled by increasing or decreasing the light intensity; when the light is stopped, the robot will gradually stop moving.

[0082] Movement control of the micro-soft robot: under infrared light irradiation, the micro-nano structure array doped with infrared-absorbing carbon material absorbs infrared light at a certain frequency, generates strong deformation through photothermal effect, and thus makes the elastic material expand and contract, driving the device to move in a certain direction; because different parts of the micro-soft robot have different micro-nano structure regions that absorb different infrared light, by controlling the frequency, intensity, direction and time length of the infrared light, the different parts of the micro-soft robot can be deformed, and thus different movement control can be realized.

[0083] Embodiment 2

[0084] This embodiment has the same structure as embodiment 1, only the period of the micro-nano structure array and the diameter of the driving leg 5 are different.

[0085] In this embodiment:

[0086] The period of the micro-nano structure array in the Z1 region is 600nm, the diameter of the driving leg 5 is 300nm, and the top end is needle-shaped; the response wavelength is 600nm.

[0087] The period of the micro-nano structure array in the Z2 region is 2.6um, the diameter of the driving leg 5 is 1.3, and the top end is needle-shaped; the response wavelength is 2.6.

[0088] The period of the micro-nano structure array in the Z3 region is 25um, the diameter of the driving leg 5 is 12.5um, and the top end is mushroom-shaped; the response wavelength is 25um.

[0089] The period of the micro-nano structure array in the Z4 region is 50.0um, the diameter of the driving leg 5 is 25.0um, and the top end is square-shaped; the response wavelength is 50.0um.

[0090] Embodiment 3

[0091] ​The embodiment is structurally identical to embodiment 1, only the period of the micro-nano structure array and the diameter of the driving leg 5 are different.

[0092] In this embodiment:

[0093] The period of the micro-nano structure array in the Z1 region is 2.6 um, the diameter of the driving leg 5 is 1.3 um, and the top end is needle-shaped; the response wavelength is 2.6 um.

[0094] The period of the micro-nano structure array in the Z2 region is 25 um, the diameter of the driving leg 5 is 12.5 um, and the top end is needle-shaped; the response wavelength is 25 um.

[0095] The period of the micro-nano structure array in the Z3 region is 50 um, the diameter of the driving leg 5 is 25.0 um, and the top end is mushroom-shaped; the response wavelength is 50 um.

[0096] The period of the micro-nano structure array in the Z4 region is 100.0 um, the diameter of the driving leg 5 is 50.0 um, and the top end is square-shaped; the response wavelength is 100.0 um.

[0097] The above further detailed the remote light-controlled micro-soft robot of the present application, the base driving component is composed of graphene-doped silicone rubber, which can quickly respond to infrared light stimulation and provide large driving force. The motion control of the micro-soft robot is realized by controlling the frequency, intensity, direction and duration of the infrared light, and the remote driving can be performed at a long distance through infrared light. The base driving component is separated from the environment by micro-nano fibers, which maximally reduces the motion resistance at a small scale, and makes it have strong environmental adaptability.

[0098] The remote light-driven micro-soft robot provided by the present application can be applied to non-structural operation environments such as environmental monitoring, debris search and rescue, medical diagnosis and military investigation. It mainly includes infrared absorbing material-doped silicone rubber as an infrared absorbing component and nano-imprint-made micro-nano column support leg component; the motion of the micro-soft robot is determined by the micro-nano column structure and the interaction with the environment, and under the irradiation of infrared light at a certain frequency, the infrared absorbing material-doped silicone rubber driving component responds to external infrared light stimulation, converts it into heat, and promotes the expansion and contraction of the silicone rubber to provide driving force for the soft robot.

[0099] The above content only illustrates the technical idea of the present application, and cannot limit the protection scope of the present application. Any modification made according to the technical idea of the present application on the basis of the technical scheme falls within the protection scope of the claims of the present application.

Claims

1. A method for manufacturing a remotely optically driven micro soft robot, characterized in that, Includes the following steps: S1. Prepare a mold with multiple micro-nanopore arrays of different periods (1). S2. Spin coat the precursor solution of the flexible material onto the planar substrate (2), and heat to cure after the precursor solution has leveled. S3. Infrared absorbing carbon nanomaterials are doped into a flexible material to obtain a carbon-containing slurry. The carbon-containing slurry is applied to the mold (1) and the carbon-containing slurry is filled into all the micro-nano pore arrays of the mold (1). S4. The back substrate (3) is hydrophilically treated and then flat-pressed onto the coated carbonaceous slurry. S5. Pre-curing makes the carbon-containing slurry into a semi-solid state, and obtains several driving legs (5) in the pores of the micro-nano pore array. Then, it is completely cured and finally demolded to obtain multiple micro-nano structure arrays with different periods, thus obtaining a micro soft robot. The micro-nano structure array includes several driving legs (5) with nano-pillar structures. The period refers to the distance between two adjacent driving legs (5).

2. The method for manufacturing a remotely optically driven micro soft robot according to claim 1, characterized in that, In S1, the diameter of the pores in the micro-nano pore array of the mold (1) is 300nm-50μm and the depth is 1um-200μm.

3. The method for manufacturing a remotely optically driven micro soft robot according to claim 1, characterized in that, In S2, the flexible material is polydimethylsiloxane or polyvinylidene fluoride.

4. The method for manufacturing a remotely optically driven micro soft robot according to claim 3, characterized in that, In step S5, when the flexible material is polydimethylsiloxane, the curing temperature of the flexible material and its doped carbon nanomaterials is 60℃-160℃; when the flexible material is polyvinylidene fluoride, the curing temperature of the flexible material and its doped carbon nanomaterials is 80℃-120℃.

5. The method for manufacturing a remotely optically driven micro soft robot according to claim 1, characterized in that, In S3, the infrared absorbing carbon material is carbon nanotube, graphene sheet, or graphene oxide sheet; the mass of the doped carbon nanomaterial is 5%-10% of the mass of the flexible material.

6. A remotely driven, light-driven micro soft robot, characterized in that, It includes a back substrate (3), on which a driving component is fixed. The driving component includes a substrate (7) and several micro-nano structure arrays fixed on the substrate (7). Each micro-nano structure array includes several array-arranged driving legs (5). The driving legs (5) are doped with infrared absorbing materials. Different nanostructure arrays have different response wavelengths. When the following relationship is satisfied, the micro / nano structure array with period P responds to light with wavelength λ: λ=P; D=P / 2; Where D is the diameter of the driving leg; the period refers to the distance between two adjacent driving legs (5).

7. A remotely optically driven micro soft robot according to claim 6, characterized in that, The free end of the drive leg (5) is provided with an end head (8).

8. A remotely optically driven micro soft robot according to claim 6, characterized in that, The back substrate (3) and the outer surface of the drive component are covered with a fluoropolymer film.

9. The method for controlling a remotely optically driven micro soft robot as described in claim 6, characterized in that, Motion control of micro soft robots is achieved by controlling the frequency, magnitude, and direction of infrared light.

10. The method for controlling a remotely optically driven micro soft robot according to claim 9, characterized in that, The driving component set at the front of the back base of the remote optically driven micro soft robot (3) is Z1, the driving component set at the rear is Z4, the driving component set at the left is Z2, and the driving component set at the right is Z3. When the external light field illuminates with infrared light of wavelengths from 700nm to 2.6µm, Z1 exhibits strong light absorption characteristics for this wavelength, converting light energy into heat energy. Z1 generates a deformation force much greater than other regions, driving the micro soft robot forward. When the wavelength of the external light field is switched to 50.0µm-100.0µm, Z4 exhibits stronger light absorption characteristics than other regions, resulting in greater deformation and enabling backward movement. When the wavelength of the external light field is switched to 2.6µm-25.0µm, Z2 exhibits stronger light absorption characteristics than other regions, resulting in greater deformation and enabling leftward turning. Similarly, when the light field is switched to 25.0µm-50.0µm, rightward turning is achieved. Acceleration and deceleration are controlled by increasing or decreasing the light intensity. When the illumination stops, the micro soft robot gradually comes to a stop.

Citation Information

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