Additive Manufacturing to Obtain Functional Microrobotic Systems

The field of nano- and microrobotics takes inspiration from nature and strives to achieve mobile robotic systems of sub-millimeter size. However, building synthetic motors, machines, and robots ‘bottom up’, such that they can mimic biological matter and function autonomously or such that they can be controlled externally, is a fascinating challenge that requires a multidisciplinary approach. It is generally not possible, to directly translate actuation mechanisms and design-concepts from the macro- to the nanoscale. At this scale, different physical phenomena are important and there are no ready-made motors and no off-the-shelf parts. I will discuss fabrication methods that are additive and scalable and that offer the chance to couple to the structures to control them and realize microrobotic components and systems. A particular focus will be large scale, ‘one-shot’ additive methods based on holography in conjunction with light-driven and ultrasound-driven microrobotic systems.