Programmable Transformation and Controllable Locomotion of Magnetoactive Soft Materials with 3D-Patterned Magnetization

Abstract

Magnetoactive soft material (MASM) is distinguished for multifunctional shape manipulations under magnetic actuation, thereby holding a great promise in soft robotics, actuators, electronics, and metamaterials. However, the current research of MASM with continuum hard-magnetic profiles focuses little on the transformation mechanism, high dimensional shape transformation, and multistable locomotion. Herein, we developed a systematic methodology for programmable transformation and controllable locomotion of MASM with 3D-patterned continuum magnetization. An iterative computational model based on the equilibrium between magnetic torque and deformation-induced elastic torque was developed for precise prediction of MASM transformation. Multidimensional and complex shape manipulation ability of MASM was demonstrated by magnetically actuated transformations, including 1D to 2D, 2D to 3D, and 3D to 4D transformations of solid MASM, 2D to 3D pattern transformation of MASM-based elastin-like mesh, and 3D to 4D transformation of MASM-based cuboidal lattice. Multistable and controllable locomotion of MASM was verified by multimodal locomotion behaviors of a scallop-inspired robot for wall climbing in a dry frame and drug delivery in wet stomach, including roll, open, and close under self-locked and unlocked states.

Keywords: architected materials; locomotion; magnetic field; magnetoactive soft materials; robot; transformation.