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。如果我们想开发几微米的机器，机器应该集成几个纳米尺寸的元件。如果我们制造一个柔软的、适合任何形状的致动器，比如肌肉，它的基本元件的尺寸可能是纳米级的。这一领域最近被称为介观领域，我们称之为介观机械工程。例如，如果我们开发一些植入式人工心脏，我们需要寻找和找到一些类似于心脏肌肉的集成致动器，这些致动器由大量的肌节组成。肌节具有肌动蛋白-肌球蛋白复合物大规模整合的结构。在这样的尺度下，能量转换的动力学遵循包括分子热振动在内的量子物理规律，称为布朗运动。此外，许多传统的结构化微机械不能通过它们自己的致动器移动，因为摩擦力或粘性力超过致动器驱动力。然而，生物可以在这样的条件下使用运动蛋白和细胞骨架的组合移动。我们必须在介观领域建立新的能量转换原理，寻找新的介观机器的制造技术，本研究建立的数学模型揭示了介观机器的设计原理，并为比较生物致动器元件和人工介观致动器的特性提供了可能。

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.