Magnetically Actuated Fiber-Based Soft Robots

Broad adoption of magnetic soft robotics is hampered by the sophisticated field paradigms for their manipulation and the complexities in controlling multiple devices. Furthermore, high-throughput fabrication of such devices across spatial scales remains challenging. Here, advances in fiber-based actuators and magnetic elastomer composites are leveraged to create 3D magnetic soft robots controlled by unidirectional fields. Thermally drawn elastomeric fibers are instrumented with a magnetic composite synthesized to withstand strains exceeding 600%. A combination of strain and magnetization engineering in these fibers enables programming of 3D robots capable of crawling or walking in magnetic fields orthogonal to the plane of motion. Magnetic robots act as cargo carriers, and multiple robots can be controlled simultaneously and in opposing directions using a single stationary electromagnet. The scalable approach to fabrication and control of magnetic soft robots invites their future applications in constrained environments where complex fields cannot be readily deployed.

Automated summary

The widespread use of magnetic soft robots is hindered by complex control paradigms and challenges in fabricating devices across different scales. In this study, advancements in fiber-based actuators and magnetic elastomer composites are utilized to create 3D magnetic soft robots controlled by one-directional fields. These robots can crawl or walk in magnetic fields orthogonal to their motion plane. They can also act as cargo carriers and be simultaneously controlled in opposite directions using a single stationary electromagnet. This scalable fabrication and control approach opens up possibilities for future applications of magnetic soft robots in environments with constrained and complex fields.