Basic Research and Development for Microactuators using as Arificial Muscles

在微机械技术的背后，我们可以找到纳米技术，它将支持真正的微机械系统。如果我们想开发几个微米机器，机器应该集成几个纳米尺寸的元素。如果我们生产一种柔软的、适合任何肌肉形状的致动器，其基本元素的大小可能是纳米级的。这个领域最近被称为介观领域，我们称之为介观机械工程，例如，如果我们开发一些可植入的人工血管，我们应该寻找和寻找一些类似于心肌的集成致动器，这些致动器由大量的肌节组成。肌节具有肌动蛋白-肌球蛋白复合体的大规模整合结构。在这样的尺度下，能量转换的动力学服从量子物理，包括分子的热振动，这就是布劳恩运动。此外，由于摩擦力或粘性力超过了执行器的驱动力，许多传统的结构化微机械不能靠自己的执行器移动。然而，生物可以在这样的条件下利用马达蛋白和细胞骨架的组合来运动。我们必须在介观领域构建新的能量转换原理，寻找新的介观机械的制造技术。研究中建立的数学模型揭示了介观机械的一些设计原则，并使我们能够比较生物致动器元件和人工介观致动器的特性。

Behind micromachine technology, we can find nanotechnology and it would support true micro-mechanical systems. If we want to develop a few micrometer machines, the machine should integrate several elements of nanometer size. If we produce an actuator, which is soft and fits in any shape like muscles, the size of its basic element might be in nanometer. This area recently called mesoscopic domain and we call it mesoscopic mechanical engineering.For an example, if we develop some implantable artificial vearts, we should search and find some integrated actuators similar to heart muscles, which consist of a large number of sarcomeres. A sarcomere has a structure of large scale integration of actin-myosin complexes. In such scale, the dynamics for converting energy obey quantum physics including thermal vibration of molecule, which called Brawnian movement. Moreover, many conventional structured micromachines cannot move by their own actuators, because frictional or viscous forces exceed the actuator driving force. However, living things can move in such conditions using combination of motor proteins and cyto-skeletons. We must construct a new principle for energy conversion in mesoscopic domain and find fabrication technology of a new mesoscopic machine.The mathematical model which have been developed in the research indicated some designing principles of mesoscopic machines and made possible that we compare the characteristics of biological actuator elements and artificial mesoscopic actuators.