Jinxing Li Department of Biomedical Engineering Michigan State University USA

Engineering small scale soft robots: From shape-morphing to hyperelastic

Robotics has markedly extended the reach of human beings in sensing, manipulating, and transforming the world around us. A particularly inspiring challenge in the realm of science and technology is to elevate human potential with diminutive robots proficient in functioning on a small scale. Over the last decade, substantial advancements have been made in the development of independent and miniature robots that employ diverse power mechanisms and mechanical designs. To emulate biological systems, scientists are currently investigating the use of polymeric or biological materials to engineer small-scale robots. This presentation will demonstrate our recent endeavors utilizing chemical and biological engineering techniques to create new miniature machines with adaptive locomotion or biomedical functions. Such chemical and biological engineered methods hold the potential to unveil exciting novel prospects in the field of miniature robots.