Reconfigurable magnetic soft robots with multimodal locomotion

Abstract

Abstract Magnetic soft robots have recently attracted increasing attention owing to their remarkable advantages and potential applications, but the reconfigurable magnetization inside soft-composite materials remains challenging, otherwise they can only achieve fixed magnetic response under external magnetic fields with limited morphological features and motion modes. To tackle this issue, a direct magnetization method based on pulsed high magnetic field focusing is developed, where the local magnetization distribution can be programmed flexibly and reconfigurably after fabrication within milliseconds and millimeter-scale resolution. Based on this method, reconfigurable magnetic soft robots are developed with superior merits, including a fishing soft robot to resist the dynamic drag, an inchworm-inspired crawling robot with a speed more than 1 body/s, and a six-arm rolling soft robot to transport objects in complex environments. The underlying locomotion mechanisms of these soft robots are also well discussed. The developed magnetic soft robots, together with the proposed magnetization method, are expected to pave avenues for the future development of mass production and controllable magnetization of soft robots for practical applications.