Magneto-soft robots based on multi-materials optimizing and heat-assisted in-situ magnetic domains programming

Soft robots, inspired by the flexibility and versatility of biological organisms, have potential in a variety of applications. Recent advancements in magneto-soft robots have demonstrated their abilities to achieve precise remote control through magnetic fields, enabling multi-modal locomotion and c...

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Main Authors: Fuzhou Niu, Quhao Xue, Qing Cao, Xinyang He, Taolei Wang, HaoChen Wang, Chonglei Hao, Xiaojian Li, Ying Li, Hao Yang, Huayong Yang, Dong Han
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: IOP Publishing 2025-01-01
Series:International Journal of Extreme Manufacturing
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1088/2631-7990/add81b
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author Fuzhou Niu
Quhao Xue
Qing Cao
Xinyang He
Taolei Wang
HaoChen Wang
Chonglei Hao
Xiaojian Li
Ying Li
Hao Yang
Huayong Yang
Dong Han
author_facet Fuzhou Niu
Quhao Xue
Qing Cao
Xinyang He
Taolei Wang
HaoChen Wang
Chonglei Hao
Xiaojian Li
Ying Li
Hao Yang
Huayong Yang
Dong Han
author_sort Fuzhou Niu
collection DOAJ
description Soft robots, inspired by the flexibility and versatility of biological organisms, have potential in a variety of applications. Recent advancements in magneto-soft robots have demonstrated their abilities to achieve precise remote control through magnetic fields, enabling multi-modal locomotion and complex manipulation tasks. Nonetheless, two main hurdles must be overcome to advance the field: developing a multi-component substrate with embedded magnetic particles to ensure the requisite flexibility and responsiveness, and devising a cost-effective, straightforward method to program three-dimensional distributed magnetic domains without complex processing and expensive machinery. Here, we introduce a cost-effective and simple heat-assisted in-situ integrated molding fabrication method for creating magnetically driven soft robots with three-dimensional programmable magnetic domains. By synthesizing a composite material with neodymium-iron-boron (NdFeB) particles embedded in a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) and Ecoflex matrix (PDMS:Ecoflex = 1:2 mass ratio, 50% magnetic particle concentration), we achieved an optimized balance of flexibility, strength, and magnetic responsiveness. The proposed heat-assisted in-situ magnetic domains programming technique, performed at an experimentally optimized temperature of 120 °C, resulted in a 2 times magnetization strength (9.5 mT) compared to that at 20 °C (4.8 mT), reaching a saturation level comparable to a commercial magnetizer. We demonstrated the versatility of our approach through the fabrication of six kinds of robots, including two kinds of two-dimensional patterned soft robots (2D-PSR), a circular six-pole domain distribution magnetic robot (2D-CSPDMR), a quadrupedal walking magnetic soft robot (QWMSR), an object manipulation robot (OMR), and a hollow thin-walled spherical magneto-soft robot (HTWSMSR). The proposed method provides a practical solution to create highly responsive and adaptable magneto-soft robots.
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series International Journal of Extreme Manufacturing
spelling doaj-art-02283ff8db9d41ca8b95b19da45394e72025-08-20T02:35:11ZengIOP PublishingInternational Journal of Extreme Manufacturing2631-79902025-01-017505550610.1088/2631-7990/add81bMagneto-soft robots based on multi-materials optimizing and heat-assisted in-situ magnetic domains programmingFuzhou Niu0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1847-4920Quhao Xue1Qing Cao2https://orcid.org/0009-0009-2122-1631Xinyang He3Taolei Wang4HaoChen Wang5Chonglei Hao6https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4695-0442Xiaojian Li7Ying Li8Hao Yang9Huayong Yang10Dong Han11https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3292-979XSchool of Mechanical Engineering , Suzhou University of Science and Technology, Suzhou 215009, People’s Republic of China; State Key Laboratory of Fluid Power and Mechatronic Systems , Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, People’s Republic of ChinaSchool of Mechanical Engineering , Suzhou University of Science and Technology, Suzhou 215009, People’s Republic of ChinaState Key Laboratory of Fluid Power and Mechatronic Systems , Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, People’s Republic of China; School of Mechanical Engineering , Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, People’s Republic of ChinaSchool of Mechanical Engineering , Suzhou University of Science and Technology, Suzhou 215009, People’s Republic of ChinaSchool of Mechanical Engineering , Suzhou University of Science and Technology, Suzhou 215009, People’s Republic of ChinaSchool of Mechanical Engineering , Suzhou University of Science and Technology, Suzhou 215009, People’s Republic of ChinaSchool of Mechatronics Engineering , Harbin Institute of Technology, Shenzhen 150001, People’s Republic of ChinaSchool of Management , Hefei University of Technology, Hefei 23009, People’s Republic of ChinaSchool of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering , Shenzhen Polytechnic University, Shenzhen 518005, People’s Republic of ChinaSchool of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering , Soochow University, Suzhou 215137, People’s Republic of ChinaState Key Laboratory of Fluid Power and Mechatronic Systems , Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, People’s Republic of China; School of Mechanical Engineering , Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, People’s Republic of ChinaState Key Laboratory of Fluid Power and Mechatronic Systems , Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, People’s Republic of China; School of Mechanical Engineering , Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, People’s Republic of ChinaSoft robots, inspired by the flexibility and versatility of biological organisms, have potential in a variety of applications. Recent advancements in magneto-soft robots have demonstrated their abilities to achieve precise remote control through magnetic fields, enabling multi-modal locomotion and complex manipulation tasks. Nonetheless, two main hurdles must be overcome to advance the field: developing a multi-component substrate with embedded magnetic particles to ensure the requisite flexibility and responsiveness, and devising a cost-effective, straightforward method to program three-dimensional distributed magnetic domains without complex processing and expensive machinery. Here, we introduce a cost-effective and simple heat-assisted in-situ integrated molding fabrication method for creating magnetically driven soft robots with three-dimensional programmable magnetic domains. By synthesizing a composite material with neodymium-iron-boron (NdFeB) particles embedded in a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) and Ecoflex matrix (PDMS:Ecoflex = 1:2 mass ratio, 50% magnetic particle concentration), we achieved an optimized balance of flexibility, strength, and magnetic responsiveness. The proposed heat-assisted in-situ magnetic domains programming technique, performed at an experimentally optimized temperature of 120 °C, resulted in a 2 times magnetization strength (9.5 mT) compared to that at 20 °C (4.8 mT), reaching a saturation level comparable to a commercial magnetizer. We demonstrated the versatility of our approach through the fabrication of six kinds of robots, including two kinds of two-dimensional patterned soft robots (2D-PSR), a circular six-pole domain distribution magnetic robot (2D-CSPDMR), a quadrupedal walking magnetic soft robot (QWMSR), an object manipulation robot (OMR), and a hollow thin-walled spherical magneto-soft robot (HTWSMSR). The proposed method provides a practical solution to create highly responsive and adaptable magneto-soft robots.https://doi.org/10.1088/2631-7990/add81bmagneto-soft robotsmulti-materials optimizingthree-dimensional magnetic domains programming
spellingShingle Fuzhou Niu
Quhao Xue
Qing Cao
Xinyang He
Taolei Wang
HaoChen Wang
Chonglei Hao
Xiaojian Li
Ying Li
Hao Yang
Huayong Yang
Dong Han
Magneto-soft robots based on multi-materials optimizing and heat-assisted in-situ magnetic domains programming
International Journal of Extreme Manufacturing
magneto-soft robots
multi-materials optimizing
three-dimensional magnetic domains programming
title Magneto-soft robots based on multi-materials optimizing and heat-assisted in-situ magnetic domains programming
title_full Magneto-soft robots based on multi-materials optimizing and heat-assisted in-situ magnetic domains programming
title_fullStr Magneto-soft robots based on multi-materials optimizing and heat-assisted in-situ magnetic domains programming
title_full_unstemmed Magneto-soft robots based on multi-materials optimizing and heat-assisted in-situ magnetic domains programming
title_short Magneto-soft robots based on multi-materials optimizing and heat-assisted in-situ magnetic domains programming
title_sort magneto soft robots based on multi materials optimizing and heat assisted in situ magnetic domains programming
topic magneto-soft robots
multi-materials optimizing
three-dimensional magnetic domains programming
url https://doi.org/10.1088/2631-7990/add81b
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