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Breaking New Ground: Cornell Scientists Unveil Breakthrough with Configurable Microscopic Metasheet Robots
Reviewed by Dr Srikanth Ponnada
Breaking New Ground: Cornell Scientists Unveil Breakthrough with Configurable Microscopic Metasheet Robots
Shape-morphing has historically been essential for the locomotion of tiny living things; yet, replicating this intricacy in sub-millimeter robots has been a significant challenge—until now. Researchers at Cornell University have successfully showcased innovative tiny, electronically adjustable metasheet robots, referred to as "metabots." These little robots transcend the constraints of miniaturization with a novel kirigami-inspired design, facilitating exact shape-shifting abilities. The metabots include five orders of magnitude, incorporating electrochemically driven hinges as little as 10 nanometers and splaying panels measuring up to 100 micrometers, culminating in a robot around 1 millimeter in length. The panels are structured into unit cells capable of expanding and contracting by 40% in under 100 milliseconds. The robots include metasheets including more than 200 individually movable hinges, allowing them to transition between several target geometries with differing curvatures.
The researchers have successfully induced movement or "locomotory gaits" in the robots by electronically regulating certain areas with precisely timed delays. This novel methodology facilitates several applications, including reconfigurable micromachines, adjustable photonic metasurfaces, and advanced miniaturized biomedical devices. This advancement represents a substantial leap in the realm of tiny, programmable robots.
References & Suggested reading
Credits: Springer Nature-Nature Materials.
Liu, Q., Wang, W., Sinhmar, H. et al. Electronically configurable microscopic metasheet robots. Nat. Mater. (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41563-024-02007-7
Authored by Dr Srikanth Ponnada
Dr Srikanth Ponnada, PhD, MRSC
-CEO, Editor & Senior Scientific Content Author
Dr. Ponnada, is a senior researcher at VSB-Technical University-Ostrava; he previously worked as a Post-Doctoral Fellow at Prof. Herring’s group, Chemical and Biological Engineering Department, Colorado School of Mines-U.S.A, as a Post-Doctoral Research Associate at Indian Institute of Technology Jodhpur-Rajasthan. His Ph.D. research focused on “Functional Materials and Their Electrochemical Applications in Batteries and Sensors.” His research area covers Functional Materials Synthesis, Polymer electrolyte membranes, Device fabrication, conversion devices (Fuel cells and Electrolyzers), Energy storage, Electrocatalysis, Electrochemical Sensors, Artificial Intelligence, and LLM (generative AI) in energy. He has also held research positions at CSIR-Central Electrochemical Research Institute, where he worked on lead-free perovskite-based photovoltaics and electrocatalysis, and at IIT (ISM) Dhanbad, where he contributed to research on gold nanoparticle-assisted heterogeneous catalysis and alcohol oxidation reactions. Also, he is an Early Career Member at the Electrochemical Society (ECS), a Member at AIChE and a Life Member at the Indian Carbon Society (ICS), also an astronomy and astrophotography enthusiast.
