CAREER: Advancing Mesoscale Soft Robotic Locomotion and Other Functions Using Versatile Fluid Manipulation Strategies

This Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER) award will support research to create tiny soft robots capable of demonstrating agile navigation and dexterous object handling in fluids. Mesoscale (i.e., millimeter-to-centimeter-scale) soft robots can provide unique advantages in hard-to-reach biological and natural fluidic environments. However, they currently lack locomotion, agility, and object manipulation capabilities comparable to those of mesoscale marine organisms, limiting their effectiveness in dynamic flows. This project will incorporate versatile fluid manipulation strategies, such as based on changing mechanical properties, into the design and control of mesoscale robots to address this gap. The resulting miniature actuators, physically complex robots, and data-driven control strategies will advance mesoscale robotics for broad applications in conditions that are challenging for humans or larger robots. Examples include exploring, monitoring, and sampling intricate coral reefs, mangroves, and densely stocked aquaculture, as well as improving access to hard-to-reach parts of the human body for timely medical diagnosis and treatment. Besides research, this award will support widespread engagement in miniature robotics through a knowledge-sharing website, project- and theory-integrated college courses, undergraduate research internships, and exhibitions at local museums. Achieving locomotion, agility, and object manipulation capabilities that millimeter-to-centimeter-scale marine organisms demonstrate remains a major challenge for mesoscale robots, due to limited understanding, realization, and utilization of interaction modes between robots and surrounding fluids in intermediate flow regimes. To overcome this challenge, this project will develop and systematically investigate versatile fluid manipulation strategies. Specifically, this project focuses on four thrusts: (1) enable active modulation of multimodal motion modes and mechanical properties of robots using hybrid miniature soft electric-magnetic-thermal actuation, (2) demonstrate swift motion (>30 cm/s), agile spatial maneuverability (>45 deg/s), and object collection, filtering, grasping, cutting/penetration, passing, and delivery through coordination among fluid manipulation modes, (3) demonstrate spatial position and object manipulation control using data-driven dynamic model and controller, and (4) incorporate electronics and batteries onto robots (<10 cm) to demonstrate locomotion and functions in laboratory and field tests. Thus, this award will advance design, fabrication, actuation, modeling, and control of high-performance miniature robotic operations in fluids. 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. NSF Award ID: 2542572 | Program: 01002627DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT | Principal Investigator: Tianlu Wang | Institution: University of Hawaii, HONOLULU, HI | Award Amount: $659,613 View on NSF Award Search: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/show-award/?AWD_ID=2542572 View on Research.gov: https://www.research.gov/awardapi-service/v1/awards/2542572.html