Magnetic Controlled Multifunctional Three-Dimensional Soft Robot with Self-Perceptive Capability

Soft robots develop rapidly through the advancements of actuation schemes, motion modalities, form factors and many other related techniques. In most scenarios, soft robots play important roles as actuators with limited capabilities in sensing and communication. This impedes the further developments of soft robots, since intelligent systems should possess capabilities in perception and interaction. Here, we propose a three-dimensional (3D) soft robot with the ability to perceive its static posture and dynamic responses. The robot can be controlled wirelessly through external magnetic fields to achieve multiple movement modalities. The robot can serve as a controllable intelligent wireless terminal and has great application potentials in remote operation, environmental monitoring, and the Internet-of-Things.