Robotics

Iron particles and magnetism get soft-bodied robots moving

Iron particles and magnetism get soft-bodied robots moving
The devices created using the technique
The devices created using the technique
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The devices created using the technique
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The devices created using the technique

Scientists from North Carolina State University have developed a method of getting soft robotic objects to move using directed magnetic fields. They say that it could be used for applications ranging from remotely-triggered drug-delivery pumps within the body, to the development of remotely deployable structures.

The researchers started by adding iron microparticles to a liquid polymer, then applying a magnetic field to the mixture. This induced the iron particles to arrange themselves into parallel chains. The liquid was then left to dry, forming into an elastic polymer thin film, with the chains of iron particles embedded within it.

When that film was subsequently subjected to magnetic fields, the iron particle chains would try to align themselves with it, moving the film with them. By varying the strength and direction of the magnetic field, it was possible to get the material to move in different ways.

Using this technique, the scientists created three types of soft "robots." One is a cantilever that can lift up to 50 times its own weight, another is an accordion-like device that expands and contracts like a muscle, and the third is a tube that functions as a peristaltic pump.

"We're now working to improve both the control and the power of these devices, to advance the potential of soft robotics," says associate professor Joe Tracy.

A paper on the research was recently published in the journal ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces.

Source: North Carolina State University

1 comment
1 comment
RayH7777777
I would like to have included in articles dealing with creating items that could get into the environment how they will self destruct, or otherwise become inactive. We have helpful products getting into the water supply such as medications and if memory is correct tiny particles included in sunscreen or deodorant. Also, there are plastic bags and other items ending up in the ocean and fresh waterways.