A tactile gripper on an optical fiber for perception and actuation
Chang-Xu Li, Yu-Qing Liu, Dong-Dong Han, Shi-Liang Qu, Yong-Lai Zhang · 2025
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Description
Chang-Xu Li and four co-authors built a tiny gripper mounted on the tip of an optical fiber, able both to feel forces and to grab microscopic objects. The design borrows from the Bobbit worm, an ambush predator. A miniature wave spring, printed by two-photon polymerization, stretches or squeezes under force and reports it through an optical interference signal read down the fiber. Attached to it sits a gripper whose soft muscle layer swells or shrinks with acidity, opening and closing the jaws.
The team demonstrated the device widely: sorting micro-objects, assembling flexible micro-blocks, detecting and capturing targets in a prey-like test, and measuring how stiff zebrafish eggs are. The authors argue that combining touch and actuation on one fiber opens delicate jobs in biomedicine and precision manufacturing. It may also serve surgery through natural openings, where tools must be gentle and informed.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Chang-Xu Li, Yu-Qing Liu, Dong-Dong Han, Shi-Liang Qu, Yong-Lai Zhang |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2025 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 44 KB |
| VERSION | 1.0 |
| LICENSE | CC BY 4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |