A Magnetically Actuated Octopus-like Robot Capable of Moving in 3D Space

Magnetic driving is an excellent non-contact method that can penetrate through the human and the biological tissues without any damage. Also, micro-nano robots are expected to enter into the human body, which will bring about revolutionary development in robotics. Here we propose an octopus-like soft robot that is expected to be used in biomedical and engineering fields in the future. Firstly, we establish a magnetic control system, which uses the minimum number of coils. The system can respond quickly with high precision and can propel robot in 3D space utilizing the coupled field contributed by multiple electromagnets acting in concert. Based on the system, we designed an octopus-like robot with three legs. The robot can move freely without constraints in the workspace. We apply triangular wave gradient magnetic field, which makes the movement of the robot more stable and controllable. At the same time, the swing of the tail increases the moving precision of the robot and make the control easier.