Zusammenfassung
The quintessential living element of all organisms is
the cell—a fluid-filled compartment enclosed, but not
isolated, by a layer of amphiphilic molecules that
self-assemble at its boundary. Cells of different
composition can aggregate and communicate through the
exchange of molecules across their boundaries. The
astounding success of this architecture is readily
apparent throughout the biological world. Inspired by
the versatility of natureʼs architecture, we
investigate aggregates of membrane-enclosed droplets as
a design concept for robotics. This will require
droplets capable of sensing, information processing,
and actuation. It will also require the integration of
functionally specialized droplets into an
interconnected functional unit. Based on results from
the literature and from our own laboratory, we argue
the viability of this approach. Sensing and information
processing in droplets have been the subject of several
recent studies, on which we draw. Integrating droplets
into coherently acting units and the aspect of
controlled actuation for locomotion have received less
attention. This article describes experiments that
address both of these challenges. Using lipid-coated
droplets of Belousov-Zhabotinsky reaction medium in
oil, we show here that such droplets can be integrated
and that chemically driven mechanical motion can be
achieved.
Nutzer