Rational design of light-controlled microrobots

Light Robotics is one of the newest progenies of the robotics family, bringing together advances in microfabrication and optical manipulation with intelligent control ideas from robotics and Fourier optics. The development of lightcontrollable microrobots capable of performing specific tasks at the microscale requires the ability to sculpt the two protagonists of the story: the light and the microrobots.

Complex light sculpting for optical trapping has been in focus for over three decades, and its importance for controlling microscopic objects is well understood. Designing intricate microrobots for the task is a more recent development facilitated by state-of-the-art microfabrication techniques, and particularly by two-photon polymerization.

The full 3D design freedom offered by two-photon polymerization opens the door for imagination, while at the same time bringing the responsibility of rationally designing microrobots tailored to specific tasks. In addition to shape and topology features, the surface chemistry of the microrobots can also help steer them towards specific applications.

This paper will discuss strategies for the design and fabrication of light-controllable microrobots as a toolbox for biomedical applications.