{"id":239433,"date":"2026-06-22T11:22:40","date_gmt":"2026-06-22T16:22:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/2026\/06\/light-controlled-microgripper-bridges-the-gap-between-precision-and-force"},"modified":"2026-06-22T11:22:40","modified_gmt":"2026-06-22T16:22:40","slug":"light-controlled-microgripper-bridges-the-gap-between-precision-and-force","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/2026\/06\/light-controlled-microgripper-bridges-the-gap-between-precision-and-force","title":{"rendered":"Light-controlled microgripper bridges the gap between precision and force"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a class=\"aligncenter blog-photo\" href=\"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog.images\/light-controlled-microgripper-bridges-the-gap-between-precision-and-force2.jpg\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>For some time, researchers have used optical tweezers to manipulate tiny objects with incredible precision, using carefully controlled beams of laser light. So far, however, this technique has always come with strict limits on how much force it can exert.<\/p>\n<p>Through <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s41586-026-10673-7\" target=\"_blank\">new research<\/a> published in <i>Nature<\/i>, a team led by Dong Wu at Anhui University, China, has unveiled an improved design: a miniature mechanical gripper controlled by light signals through an optical fiber.<\/p>\n<p>Combining the precision of light-based tools with the gripping strength of mechanical devices, the device could make it far easier for researchers to manipulate and assemble objects at the microscale.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For some time, researchers have used optical tweezers to manipulate tiny objects with incredible precision, using carefully controlled beams of laser light. So far, however, this technique has always come with strict limits on how much force it can exert. Through new research published in Nature, a team led by Dong Wu at Anhui University, [\u2026]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":662,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-239433","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-futurism"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/239433","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/662"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=239433"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/239433\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=239433"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=239433"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=239433"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}