Miniature fish-like magnetic soft robot swarm’s aggregation and optimal coverage of lesions (IMAGE)
Caption
(a) In nature, small fish can swim agilely and increase their survival probabilities by forming schools that dynamically aggregate and disperse for collective foraging. (b) Inspired by nature, a miniature fish-like magnetic soft robot composed of hard-magnetic elastomers has been developed. Under the actuation of an oscillating magnetic field and with the assistance of a gradient magnetic field, the robotic individuals can achieve fish-like swimming with constrained 6 DOFs. (c) Based on the mechanism where the constant component of an oscillating magnetic field at natural frequency uniquely dominates the swimming direction of fish-like magnetic soft robots, by programming the spatial distribution pattern of the constant component, the swiming direction of individual robots can be differentially regulated, inducing swarm behaviors. Robotic swarms can 3D disperse and aggregrate like migrating fish schools, achieve obstacle avoidance, and enrich toward the lesion. Upon reaching the lesion interface, the robot swarm can then adjust its morphology and position on the solid-liquid interface, similar to fish foraging, adapting to the lesion boundary for better adhesion.
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