This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Tiny underwater algae sway gently in the current. All of a sudden, a light shines on them and they form robotlike arms that start to pick up small rocks and put them in floating baskets.
Sounds like science fiction, but researchers from Delft University of Technology (the Netherlands) have created a small soft robot arm covered with minuscule algae that can grasp and lift objects. And it's powered by light. This next step in biotechnology has been published in Nature Communications.
The tiny robot arm can perform large, reversible bending movements controlled by light. "Our proof-of-concept actuator is a green and soft strip made of two different hydrogel layers, with microalgae growing on its surface," lead researcher Marie-Eve Aubin-Tam explains. "It is about 2 cm long and 1 mm thick.
When exposed to changing light conditions, the strip can bend back and forth. The shape of the actuator can be easily changed to allow for different movement and function." The robot's movement can be used for simple tasks such as grasping and manipulating small objects, particularly in underwater environments where soft and gentle handling can be useful. As demonstrations, first author Fan Jiang and fellow researchers used the actuator to hook and lift a rubber ring and to grasp a small metal ball.
Beyond grasping, the robot can also reproduce movements found in nature. Its light-controlled bending could, for example, be incorporated into blinds or agricultural devices that change their shape or orientation in response to light. These demonstrations show how the basic bending motion could be developed into both soft robotic and biomimetic functions.
But scientists are often driven by innate curiosity, Aubin-Tam admits, "We didn't start with a specific application. Our goal has always been to bring the research of living materials to new levels. We wanted to explore what becomes possible when living cells are integrated into functional materials." The microalgae drive the actuator through their metabolism, which depends on light.
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