Transporting and rotating of microstructures actuated by algal microrobots

With perception behavior and propulsion ability, algal cells can be considered microrobots from the view of engineering. However, using algal cells to carry out tasks is still a challenge. In this study, controlled assembly and use of algal cells as actuators for manipulating some artificial microstructures were conducted. A novel algae-guiding system was developed to robotize algal cells, through which a swarm of algal cells or a single algal cell was controlled to follow arbitrarily set trajectories. Algal cells were controllably assembled onto the fabricated microstructures. The transporting and rotating of microstructures actuated by algal microrobots were realized. This research has the potential for microassembly and microcargo traverse.