Magnetic soft millirobot with simultaneous locomotion and sensing capability

Abstract Soft millirobot has attracted significant attention and demonstrated tremendous potential in human-robot interactions and safety inspections. Locomotion and perception are two crucial features for achieving effective gait and practical applications of robots. Inspired by nature, this resear...

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Main Authors: Weihong Zeng, Xinrui Ding, Yuan Jin, Bin Liu, Runhao Zeng, Feng Gong, Yan Lou, Lelun Jiang, Hui Li
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Nature Portfolio 2025-06-01
Series:npj Flexible Electronics
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41528-025-00437-0
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author Weihong Zeng
Xinrui Ding
Yuan Jin
Bin Liu
Runhao Zeng
Feng Gong
Yan Lou
Lelun Jiang
Hui Li
author_facet Weihong Zeng
Xinrui Ding
Yuan Jin
Bin Liu
Runhao Zeng
Feng Gong
Yan Lou
Lelun Jiang
Hui Li
author_sort Weihong Zeng
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Soft millirobot has attracted significant attention and demonstrated tremendous potential in human-robot interactions and safety inspections. Locomotion and perception are two crucial features for achieving effective gait and practical applications of robots. Inspired by nature, this research reports a magnetic soft millirobot that integrates locomotion and sensing capacities simultaneously. Microconical matrix with rich and regular surface morphologies are constructed directly inside the millirobot as both multilegged and triboelectric-enhanced sensing structures via cooperation of jet printing and magnetization-induction method with high-speed and high-precision. The robot can both recognize its current body state across various application scenarios and identify terrains through a machine learning strategy. Our work presents a customizable approach for smart millirobots to perform tasks in nonmagnetic structured environments and provides embedded sensing capability for next-generation soft robots.
format Article
id doaj-art-aa8cd2bec0ec471eb0e5dff51ebaed21
institution DOAJ
issn 2397-4621
language English
publishDate 2025-06-01
publisher Nature Portfolio
record_format Article
series npj Flexible Electronics
spelling doaj-art-aa8cd2bec0ec471eb0e5dff51ebaed212025-08-20T03:21:05ZengNature Portfolionpj Flexible Electronics2397-46212025-06-019111010.1038/s41528-025-00437-0Magnetic soft millirobot with simultaneous locomotion and sensing capabilityWeihong Zeng0Xinrui Ding1Yuan Jin2Bin Liu3Runhao Zeng4Feng Gong5Yan Lou6Lelun Jiang7Hui Li8Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Micro/Nano Optomechatronics Engineering, College of Mechatronics and Control Engineering, Shenzhen UniversitySchool of Mechanical and Automotive Engineering, South China University of TechnologySchool of Mechanical Engineering and Mechanics, Ningbo UniversitySchool of Biomedical Engineering, Shenzhen Campus of Sun Yat-sen UniversityArtificial Intelligence Research Institute, Shenzhen MSU-BIT UniversityGuangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Micro/Nano Optomechatronics Engineering, College of Mechatronics and Control Engineering, Shenzhen UniversityGuangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Micro/Nano Optomechatronics Engineering, College of Mechatronics and Control Engineering, Shenzhen UniversitySchool of Biomedical Engineering, Shenzhen Campus of Sun Yat-sen UniversityGuangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Micro/Nano Optomechatronics Engineering, College of Mechatronics and Control Engineering, Shenzhen UniversityAbstract Soft millirobot has attracted significant attention and demonstrated tremendous potential in human-robot interactions and safety inspections. Locomotion and perception are two crucial features for achieving effective gait and practical applications of robots. Inspired by nature, this research reports a magnetic soft millirobot that integrates locomotion and sensing capacities simultaneously. Microconical matrix with rich and regular surface morphologies are constructed directly inside the millirobot as both multilegged and triboelectric-enhanced sensing structures via cooperation of jet printing and magnetization-induction method with high-speed and high-precision. The robot can both recognize its current body state across various application scenarios and identify terrains through a machine learning strategy. Our work presents a customizable approach for smart millirobots to perform tasks in nonmagnetic structured environments and provides embedded sensing capability for next-generation soft robots.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41528-025-00437-0
spellingShingle Weihong Zeng
Xinrui Ding
Yuan Jin
Bin Liu
Runhao Zeng
Feng Gong
Yan Lou
Lelun Jiang
Hui Li
Magnetic soft millirobot with simultaneous locomotion and sensing capability
npj Flexible Electronics
title Magnetic soft millirobot with simultaneous locomotion and sensing capability
title_full Magnetic soft millirobot with simultaneous locomotion and sensing capability
title_fullStr Magnetic soft millirobot with simultaneous locomotion and sensing capability
title_full_unstemmed Magnetic soft millirobot with simultaneous locomotion and sensing capability
title_short Magnetic soft millirobot with simultaneous locomotion and sensing capability
title_sort magnetic soft millirobot with simultaneous locomotion and sensing capability
url https://doi.org/10.1038/s41528-025-00437-0
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AT binliu magneticsoftmillirobotwithsimultaneouslocomotionandsensingcapability
AT runhaozeng magneticsoftmillirobotwithsimultaneouslocomotionandsensingcapability
AT fenggong magneticsoftmillirobotwithsimultaneouslocomotionandsensingcapability
AT yanlou magneticsoftmillirobotwithsimultaneouslocomotionandsensingcapability
AT lelunjiang magneticsoftmillirobotwithsimultaneouslocomotionandsensingcapability
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