Helical Liquid Crystal Elastomer Miniature Robot with Photocontrolled Locomotion

Abstract Miniature liquid crystal elastomer (LCE) based soft robots with multidirectional locomotion ability and multifunctionality have captured the extensive interest of researchers for a wide range of potential applications. Generally, the subsistent actuation modes for most LCE soft robots present several simple shape‐changing under external stimuli. Although elaborately designed for complicated structures, they still achieve limited mobility, restricting the practical applications severely. Herein, a photo‐controllable helical soft robot (PHSR) prepared with near‐infrared (NIR) light active LCE is reported. The 3D helical architecture of PHSR is constructed by manually twisting the LCE strip. The irradiation of NIR light transforms the basic reversible shape deformations (shrinking/elongating, winding/unwinding, and bending) of PHSR to macroscopic photomobility. As the torsional orientation of mesogens generated by manually twisting process, the rolling direction can be controlled by the scanning direction of the NIR spot. The flexible steering motion is in favor of performing various tasks such as traversing gap, climbing, and outputting mechanical work, suggesting that PHSR with directional photomobility and multifunction can be extended to a variety of applications.