Reconfigurable Disk-like Microswarm under a Sawtooth Magnetic Field

Micromachines

Mu Li¹  Bo Zhou²  Weiwei Zhang²  Tao Zhang²  Yuguo Deng²  Yufeng Su²  Jiayu Liu² 

[1] Department of Pharmacy, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Harbin 150086, China;School of Mechanical Engineering, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450001, China;

关键词: microrobot;    disk-like swarm;    sawtooth magnetic field;    microassembly;   

DOI  :  10.3390/mi12121529

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Swarming robotic systems, which stem from insect swarms in nature, exhibit a high level of environmental adaptability and enhanced tasking capabilities for targeted delivery and micromanipulation. Here, we present a strategy that reconfigures paramagnetic nanoparticles into microswarms energized by a sawtooth magnetic field. A rotary-stepping magnetic-chain mechanism is proposed to address the forming principle of disk-like swarms. Based on programming the sawtooth field, the microswarm can perform reversible transformations between a disk, an ellipse and a ribbon, as well as splitting and merging. In addition, the swarms can be steered in any direction with excellent maneuverability and a high level of pattern stability. Under accurate manipulation of a magnetic microswarm, multiple microparts with complicated shapes were successfully combined into a complete assembly. This reconfigurable swarming microrobot may shed light on the understanding of complex morphological transformations in living systems and provide future practical applications of microfabrication and micromanipulation.

【 授权许可】

Unknown