Responsive Hydrogel‐Based Modular Microrobots for Multi‐Functional Micromanipulation

Abstract Microrobots show great potential in biomedical applications such as drug delivery and cell manipulations. However, current microrobots are mostly fabricated as a single entity and type and the tasks they can perform are limited. In this paper, modular microrobots, with an overall size of 120 µm × 200 µm, are proposed with responsive mating components, made from stimuli‐responsive hydrogels, and application specific end‐effectors for microassembly tasks. The modular microrobots are fabricated based on photolithography and two‐photon polymerization together or separately. Two types of modular microrobots are created based on the location of the responsive mating component. The first type of modular microrobot has a mating component that can shrink upon stimulation, while the second type has a double bilayer structure that can realize an open and close motion. The exchange of end‐effectors with an identical actuation base is demonstrated for both types of microrobots. Finally, different manipulation tasks are performed with different types of end‐effectors.