Video: Micro-Robots Made of Bubbles That Are Powered by Lasers

By Clay Dillow Posted 05.22.2012 at 11:13 am 6 Comments

Manipulable Microbots Made of Air U. of Hawaii College of Engineering

Roboticists make robots out of all kinds of things, but Aaron Ohta at the University of Hawaii at Manoa makes them out of thin air. While we usually think of robots as mechanical, Ohta’s lab has devised a way to make robots out of bubbles of air powered by lasers, IEEE Spectrum reports.

Using nothing more than a fine-tipped syringe filled with air and saline solution, Ohta and his colleagues in the U.H. Department of Electrical Engineering have created a system that uses a 400 mW infrared laser to propel bubbles around their environment. The laser is shone straight through the bubble, where it heats the far side. The solution that the bubbles are in then naturally tries to shift away from the heated side of the bubble toward the cooler side. This transfer of fluid creates a kind of thrust that pushes the bubble in the direction of the heated side.

As such, the bubbles can be used as tiny, micromechanical machines that can perform tasks at extremely small scales. The velocity of the bubbles correlates to the intensity of the laser, so speed can be manipulated by dialing the laser up or down. The spherical nature of the bubbles offers 360-degree control, and because they are literally just bubbles of air in a solution, their size can be adjusted easily and the researchers can make as many as they like.

Unlike other micromechanical machines, which are often controlled by magnetic fields, they are also independently steerable--each bubble simply requires its own laser source. Where a swarm of microbots controlled via magnetism would tend to clump together as they respond to a common magnetic field, the laser-controlled bubble-bots can be steered separately with an array of infrared lasers.

All that allows for finely tuned manipulation at even very small levels. The image above depicts an array of glass beads arranged at a sub-millimeter scale to spell out the University of Hawaii’s initials. With the work completed, cleanup is easy enough: just pop the bubble. You can always make a new machine whenever you need one.

[IEEE Spectrum]

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6 Comments

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CodeZero

05/22/12 at 12:20 pm

I've turned all sorts of round objects into robots using my hands then, if propelling a bubble with a laser to push it via heat constitutes making a robot.

ro·bot/ˈrōˌbät/Noun: A machine capable of carrying out a complex series of actions automatically.

Seems a bit of a stretch to claim an air bubble as a "robot".
Playing Devil's Advocate since 1978

"The only constant in the universe is change"
-Heraclitus of Ephesus 535 BC - 475 BC

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Silverjeff

05/22/12 at 1:26 pm

I agree with CodeZero but I'll take it a step further. Calling these bubbles "robots" is not a stretch, it's a complete lie.

This discovery may be important and it may have widespread applications - I truly don't know where it will lead. But what I do know is that a natural spherical object that can be manipulated from a distance is not a robot. How would you react if someone made an orange roll around on a table by spraying it with a hose, then told you they had turned the orange into a robot? This discovery is more impressive because the bubbles are tiny, can be moved in any direction along three dimensions by the hose, i mean laser, and with a high degree of precision... however calling the sphere that gets moved a "robot" is just as stupid for the bubble as it is for the orange.

Clay, have some respect for your audience.

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harrydecker

05/22/12 at 2:32 pm

my friend's mom made $15485 last week. she been making cash on the laptop and got a $347900 condo. All she did was get lucky and use the guide revealed on this web site cutt.us/4EPM

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Robot

05/22/12 at 5:20 pm

I believe it was a lack of understanding of our DNA that gave rise to a large part of it being called junk DNA. Once we understand truly how read and unlock its code, then the wisdom of the Gods\Aliens\Annunaki who made us will be revealed and a longer history of humanity as well.

.............................
Science sees no further than what it can sense, i.e. facts.
Religion sees beyond the senses, i.e. faith.
Open your mind and see!

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Robot

05/22/12 at 5:28 pm

RATS! Dreaded internet explorer tabs got me. I posted in the wrong article again, sheesh.... lol

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Nix

11/05/12 at 3:14 pm

It is a good idea, i don't see a practical application but still good in of it self.

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