In the near future, our lives will be enriched by highly advanced technologies. We will live in ecosystems populated by autonomous vehicles, ingest smart pills to constantly monitor our health and diagnose diseases, work in inclusive factories where production equipment will learn autonomously, and robotic platforms will replace humans when performing complex tasks becomes unhealthy and dangerous. 

'Crucial will be the availability of a new generation of micro-electromechanical systems, micro-sensors and micro-devices, whose size, weight and energy consumption will decrease as much as necessary to be integrated on a larger scale, enabling the creation of new products, processes, controls and production techniques,' explains Gianluca Pavesi, Automation Manager of the project and Researcher at the ARM laboratory.

In this perspective, the Mesomorph machine was entirely engineered and manufactured by ARM researchers with the fundamental contribution of the project's technological partners. It constitutes the prototype of a new generation of machines integrating three disruptive technologies: micro-ablation by means of femto lasers, 2-photon polymerisation and atomic layer deposition, and aims to produce micro-systems with unprecedented size and capacity. 

Particularly, Mesomorph's functionalities have been validated in the production of micro-devices for optoelectronic, medical and environmental applications. This is complemented by a specific, purpose-built software platform to guide the design, engineering and production of these innovative components.

After three and a half years of activity and a total budget of around EUR 10 million, fully funded by the European Commission, the project was successfully concluded on 31 March 2024. 

The machine will remain available at the ARM laboratory of the Department of Innovative Technologies for further demonstrations and possible new developments and additions, both in research and teaching.

Further information on the project and the research partners can be found on the website: https://mesomorph-h2020project.eu/.