Collaborative Research: Deformation-Enhanced Dynamics and Control of Microscale Modular Soft Robots

About This Grant

Soft robots, constructed from flexible and deformable materials, are opening new frontiers in robotics by enabling safe and adaptable operation in delicate and complex environments. This research project focuses on developing microscale soft robots inspired by the shapes and motions of bacteria. These robots are specifically designed to navigate biological fluids that are highly viscous or elastic. The miniature robots will have the ability to change shape, adapt to tight or irregular spaces, and move with precision through external magnetic and light-based control. Unlike conventional rigid robots, these soft robots can bend, twist, roll, and swim with ease, allowing them to access regions that are otherwise unreachable. This capability makes them especially promising for medical applications, including targeted drug delivery and minimally invasive procedures in anatomical areas such as the ear, nose, and throat. In addition to advancing robotic technology, the project includes a strong educational and outreach component. At Southern Methodist University and the University of Utah, undergraduate and graduate students will participate directly in research activities, gaining valuable experience in robotics, materials science, and biomedical engineering. Through these efforts, the project aims not only to develop transformative biomedical tools but also to cultivate a skilled future workforce in science and engineering. Technically, the research involves the design, fabrication, modeling, and control of rod-shaped soft robots built from adaptive polymer scaffolds. These scaffolds contain paramagnetic disks for magnetic actuation, polydiacetylene vesicles for thermal sensing, and gold and silver nanoparticles for light-responsive shape modulation. The robots will be actuated using different magnetic field configurations to produce a variety of locomotion modes, such as swimming, crawling, wiggling, and slithering, both on surfaces and within three-dimensional environments. To better understand and optimize these behaviors, the project will develop and validate computational models based on Kirchhoff rod theory and reduced-order representations. These models will incorporate factors such as environmental forces, magnetic interactions, and spatially controlled changes in stiffness. Experiments will be conducted in synthetic biological fluids and biomimetic environments, including mucus analogs and tissue-like gels, to simulate real-world biomedical conditions. The robots will also be capable of modular assembly and disassembly, allowing them to work together in swarms for more effective manipulation and enhanced adaptability. By integrating computational modeling, materials science, and control methodologies, this research will advance the state of the art in microscale soft robotics and open new possibilities for biomedical applications and other areas that demand highly adaptive, minimally invasive technologies. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.