Research On Interaction Of Coexisting-Cooperative-Cognitive Chemical Driven Microrobots

Micro/nanotechnology is one of the frontier technologies that affects the world's national defense,politics and economy.As the core actuator of micro/nanotechnology,microrobots can convert light energy,electric energy,magnetic energy,ultrasonic energy and chemical energy in the environment into mechanical energy to achieve self-propulsion.Chemical driven microrobots are one of the earliest and most widely used microrobots.Functionalized chemical driven microrobots can be applied in the fields of biomedical,targeted transportation,micro-nano manufacturing,environmental remediation and so on.However,single chemical-driven microrobot does not have the ability of collaboration,mutual assistance and collaborative operation,and there are some shortcomings,such as poor autonomy,low intelligence and poor multi-modal environmental awareness.In order to solve the above problems,it is urgent to study the interaction and cooperation,mutual assistance and cooperative operation between different kinds of chemical-driven microrobots to improve the intelligence of chemical-driven microrobots.The size of chemical-driven microrobots is at the micron level,so it is impossible to integrate sensors and other macro-devices like macrorobots.Therefore,the research on interaction and cooperation between different kinds of chemical-driven microrobots will face the following challenges such as low direction control accuracy,low integration and difficulty in interactive communication.In order to solve the above problems,based on principles of bionics and the characteristics of microrobot,this paper takes the coexisting-cooperative-cognitive chemical driven microrobots as the research object through the intersection of mechanical,material,biological,physical and chemical disciplines.To enhance the ability of interaction and cooperation,mutual assistance and cooperative operation among different kinds of chemical-driven microrobots,this paper carries out collaborative research among different kinds of chemical-driven microrobots to realize cargo transportation and micropatterning,autonomous obstacle avoidance,speed-up and other complex tasks and applications.The cargo transfer is realized based on the interaction between chemcal diven microrobots and microrobots.The competition between ‘cargo sender' PS/Pt Janus microrobot or ‘cargo receiver' PS/Ni/Pt Janus microrobot and cargo is the key to realize cargo transfer.When the interaction force between ‘cargo receiver' and cargo is higher than that between ‘cargo sender' and cargo,the cargo will be transferred from ‘cargo sender' to ‘cargo receiver'.At the same time,not only the single cargo transfer but also the successive cargo transfer can be realized through the interaction between ‘cargo receiver' and ‘cargo sender'.Based on the interaction between chemical-driven microrobots and microrobots,the mechanism of acceleration of chemical-driven microrobots through the interaction of ion signals was studied through the combination of simulation analysis and experimental research.The ‘activitor' polystyrene(PS)/Ni/Au/Ag Janus microrobots and the ‘ion receiver' Si O2/Pt Janus microrobots are prepared by physical vapor deposition technology.A chemical “message” is sent from a moving activator microrobot to a nearby activated(receiver)microrobot by release of Ag+ ions from a Janus PS/Ni/Au/Ag activator microrobots to the activated Janus Si O 2/Pt microrobots.The transmitted silver signal is translated rapidly into a dramatic speed change associated with the enhanced catalytic activity of activated microrobots by underpotential deposition at the end of platinum.Selective and successive activation of multiple microrobots are achieved by sequential localized chemical communications between chemical propelled microrobots.Based on the interaction between chemical-driven micro-robots and environment,a novel motile micropump system is designed through the combination of water-driven Zn O/Ni/PS Janus microrobot with traditional immobilized micropump.The mechanism of micropatterning by the interaction between microrobot and environment is studied by combining simulation analysis with experimental research.The autonomously moving Zn O/Ni/PS Janus microrobot is driven by self-generated ion concentration gradient,while pumps away surround silica particles through diffusiophoresis in silica particles suspension.The resolution and efficiency of micropatterning process can be regulated by controlling the diameters of Janus microrobots.Diverse surface micropatterns and letters can be fabricated though remote magnetic control of the motile micropump system.Based on the interaction between chemical-driven microrobot and human,the obstacle avoidance function between microrobot and human is studied by combining a CCD camera,an intelligence planner,and a magnetic field generator.The CCD camera provides real-time localization of the Janus microrobot and obstacles and targeted objects.The artificial intelligence planner can be used for path planning to generate optimal collision-free routes.The magnetic field generator is used to control moving direction of the microrobot toward a reference position based on the position information of microrobots and obstacles.The microrobots moving in the autonomous navigation system can avoid simple static obstacles,complex dynamically changing obstacles and targeting and localizing cancer cells according to a predetermined trajectory by the interaction between microrobots and human.