Light-controlled versatile manipulation of liquid metal droplets: a gateway to future liquid robots

Hongtai Ren; Hu Jin; Jian Shu; Jie Xie; Erlong Wang; Du-An Ge; Shi-Yang Tang; Xiangpeng Li; Weihua Li; Shiwu Zhang

doi:10.1039/D1MH00647A

Light-controlled versatile manipulation of liquid metal droplets: a gateway to future liquid robots†

Hongtai Ren,^a Hu Jin,^a Jian Shu,^a Jie Xie,^a Erlong Wang,^a Du-An Ge,^a Shi-Yang Tang,

*^b Xiangpeng Li,*^c Weihua Li

^d and Shiwu Zhang

*^a

Author affiliations

* Corresponding authors

^a CAS Key Laboratory of Mechanical Behavior and Design of Materials, Department of Precision Machinery and Precision Instrumentation, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China
E-mail: swzhang@ustc.edu.cn

^b Department of Electronic, Electrical and Systems Engineering, School of Engineering, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK
E-mail: S.Tang@bham.ac.uk

^c College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Soochow University, Suzhou 215000, China
E-mail: licool@suda.edu.cn

^d School of Mechanical, Materials, Mechatronic and Biomedical Engineering, University of Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia

Abstract

The controlled actuation of liquid metal (LM) droplets has recently shown great potential in developing smart actuating systems for applications in robotics. However, there is a lack of a simple approach for the precise manipulation of multiple LM droplets in a 2D plane, which hinders the development of complex control over droplets for realizing useful robotic applications. To overcome this challenge, here, a versatile and powerful light-induced manipulation of LM droplets is presented. The key principle is to selectively activate phototransistors in an electrolyte using infrared laser beams to electrically control LM droplets via Marangoni forces. This approach shows the ability of inducing concurrent motion, splitting, and merging of multiple LM droplets simply using light without complex and bulky systems. Parameters affecting the manipulation of LM droplets are thoroughly investigated. Moreover, a vehicle carrier driven by wheels composed of multiple LM droplets for making a light-controlled relay is demonstrated. We believe such a light-induced control method for manipulating LM droplets has the potential for advancing the development of future field-programmable robotics and droplet-based soft collaborative robots.

Materials Horizons

Light-controlled versatile manipulation of liquid metal droplets: a gateway to future liquid robots†

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