Abstract
The realization of reconfigurable modular microrobots could aid drug delivery and microsurgery by allowing a single system to navigate diverse environments and perform multiple tasks. So far, microrobotic systems are limited by insufficient versatility; for instance, helical shapes commonly used for magnetic swimmers cannot effectively assemble and disassemble into different size and shapes. Here by using microswimmers with simple geometries constructed of spherical particles, we show how magnetohydrodynamics can be used to assemble and disassemble modular microrobots with different physical characteristics. We develop a mechanistic physical model that we use to improve assembly strategies. Furthermore, we experimentally demonstrate the feasibility of dynamically changing the physical properties of microswimmers through assembly and disassembly in a controlled fluidic environment. Finally, we show that different configurations have different swimming properties by examining swimming speed dependence on configuration size.
Highlights
The realization of reconfigurable modular microrobots could aid drug delivery and microsurgery by allowing a single system to navigate diverse environments and perform multiple tasks
Modular microrobotics are attractive since they may allow for much greater versatility, enabling a single system to navigate many different environments or perform multiple tasks, which are key hurdles for in vivo biomedical applications
The success rate of using nanoparticle drug delivery methods depends on many uncontrolled factors in various vastly different environments such as circulation in the blood stream, diffusion inside tumor microenvironments, and biological barriers such as extracellular matrix (ECM)[4]
Summary
The realization of reconfigurable modular microrobots could aid drug delivery and microsurgery by allowing a single system to navigate diverse environments and perform multiple tasks. While existing microrobots have demonstrated excellent capabilities to move or work in homogenous environments and to complete a single specific task, modular robots with the ability to change their shape can adapt to varying tasks and environments and can respond to unpredictable situations[1] This is advantageous for applications that requires the use of micro/nanorobots over a wide range of different environments. Tottori et al have previously introduced a method to assemble and disassemble helical microswimmers into different configurations using magnetic force and hydrodynamic interactions[44] Their system could dynamically reconfigure size and shape, the underlying helical geometry, while effective for swimming, is not ideal for modularity as the maximum number of assembled swimmers is three, reducing versatility
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