Micro/Nanorobotics by 4D printing: tethered robots by using two-photon stereolithography
To respond to increasing needs in healthcare and in manufacturing, nanorobotics has to change the paradigm to overcome the current limitations on dexterity, compactness, range, and precision. PNanoBot aims at investigating the development of Two-Photon Stereolithography (TPS) nanorobotic structures made in photo-actuated material mounted at the tip of optical fibers. The main idea is to design the next generation of tethered nanorobotics by combining complex 3D structures tailored with metamaterial parts and photo-thermo multi-responsive polymers. The actuation will be achieved through the laser beam in the fiber core by controlling simultaneously or successively the optical flux and the wavelength. PNanoBot aims to drastically increase the state-of-the-art workspace to robot volume ratio while preserving robotic performances required at the nanoscale. Two promising strategies (hydrogels and liquid crystal elastomers) will be studied and improved to overpass proofs-of-concept to ensure controllability, repeatability, and long- life. The ability of PNanoBot will be highlighted through two demonstrators for healthcare and manufacturing.