Remote control of muscle-driven miniature robots with battery-free wireless optoelectronics.

Journal: Science robotics
Published Date: Jan 18, 2023

Abstract

Bioengineering approaches that combine living cellular components with three-dimensional scaffolds to generate motion can be used to develop a new generation of miniature robots. Integrating on-board electronics and remote control in these biological machines will enable various applications across engineering, biology, and medicine. Here, we present hybrid bioelectronic robots equipped with battery-free and microinorganic light-emitting diodes for wireless control and real-time communication. Centimeter-scale walking robots were computationally designed and optimized to host on-board optoelectronics with independent stimulation of multiple optogenetic skeletal muscles, achieving remote command of walking, turning, plowing, and transport functions both at individual and collective levels. This work paves the way toward a class of biohybrid machines able to combine biological actuation and sensing with on-board computing.

Authors

  • Yongdeok Kim
    Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA.
  • Yiyuan Yang
    Department of Mechanical Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, USA.
  • Xiaotian Zhang
    Key Laboratory of Carcinogenesis and Translational Research (Ministry of Education/Beijing), Department of Gastrointestinal Oncology, Peking University Cancer Hospital & Institute, Beijing 100142, China.
  • Zhengwei Li
    Engineering Research Center of Mine Digitalization of Ministry of Education, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou, China. zwli@cumt.edu.cn.
  • Abraham Vázquez-Guardado
    Querrey Simpson Institute for Bioelectronics, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, USA.
  • Insu Park
    Nick J. Holonyak Micro and Nanotechnology Laboratory, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA.
  • Jiaojiao Wang
    Metanotitia Inc., Shenzhen, China.
  • Andrew I Efimov
    Department of Biomedical Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, USA.
  • Zhi Dou
    Department of Mechanical Science and Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA.
  • Yue Wang
    Department of Pharmacology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, United States.
  • Junehu Park
    Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA.
  • Haiwen Luan
    Querrey Simpson Institute for Bioelectronics, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, USA.
  • Xinchen Ni
    Querrey Simpson Institute for Bioelectronics, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, USA.
  • Yun Seong Kim
    Department of Mechanical Science and Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA.
  • Janice Baek
    Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA.
  • Joshua Jaehyung Park
    Department of Mechanical Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, USA.
  • Zhaoqian Xie
    State Key Laboratory of Structural Analysis for Industrial Equipment, Department of Engineering Mechanics, DUT-BSU Joint Institute, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024, China.
  • Hangbo Zhao
    Querrey Simpson Institute for Bioelectronics, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, USA.
  • Mattia Gazzola
    John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
  • John A Rogers
    7Center for Bio-Integrated Electronics, Departments of Materials Science and Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, Chemistry, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Neurological Surgery, Simpson Querrey Institute for Nano/Biotechnology, McCormick School of Engineering, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208 USA.
  • Rashid Bashir
    Department of Bioengineering, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, 1270 Digital Computer Laboratory, 1304W, Springfield Ave., 61801, Urbana, IL, USA. rbashir@illinois.edu.

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