Modeling of Bilayer Hydrogel Springs for Microrobots with Adaptive Locomotion

Abstract

Adaptive locomotion of microrobots can be achieved by using a smart polymer such as a hydrogel. For hydrogel-based bilayer helical microrobots, the change of environment such as temperature and pH can result in shape deformation into helical shapes differing from their initial state and hence swimming performance. In this work, we proposed a model for studying the parameters that affect the shape deformation of a hydrogel-based bilayer helical microrobot. Moreover, the dynamics of some examples of responsive helical swimming are compared before and after stimulation.