Bio-Syncretic Robots Composed of Living-Electromechanical Systems

Bio-syncretic robots are a new type of robots formed by the organic fusion of living systems and electromechanical systems at the molecular, cellular and tissue scales, which have the potential advantages of high energy conversion efficiency, long endurance and miniaturization, and can provide new ideas to break through the bottlenecks faced by traditional robots in terms of drive, sensing, intelligence and so on. Focusing on the research status of bio-syncretic robots, this review systematically classifies and introduces existing bio-syncretic robots firstly according to different living materials (such as cardiomyocytes, skeletal muscle cells, neuro-muscle, insect muscle tissue, and microorganisms). Subsequently, the commonly used non-living materials (such as polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), hydrogel), control methods (such as electrical control, optical control, chemical control, magnetic control) and application scenarios of bio-syncretic robots (such as micro-robots, lab on a chip, biomedicine) are discussed in detail. Finally, the potential challenges and possible development directions of bio-syncretic robot research are analyzed and prospected.