A review on structured magnetic soft robots: Locomotion innovation driven by structural engineering

Recently, Dr. Renheng Bo, Research Associate Professor at the State Key Laboratory of Flexible Electronics Technology, Tsinghua University, and his colleagues published a new review article entitled "Structured Locomotive Magnetic Soft Robots" in Flextech. This article focuses on the relationship between structural configurations and locomotion modes of magnetic soft robots, which systematically summarizes the material compositions, fabrication methods, locomotion mechanisms, and applications of existing magnetic soft robots. Furthermore, it emphasizes current challenges and future research directions in the field of structured magnetic soft robots, providing insightful perspectives.

Magnetic soft robots, offering fast response, high controllability, and large deformability, are promising for applications in clinical surgery, drug delivery, among others. In recent years, advancements in material synthesis and micro/nanofabrication technologies have led to diverse structural configurations of such robotic family, giving rise to a variety of locomotion modes, such as crawling, jumping, and swimming. This has significantly expanded the functionalities and potential applications of magnetic soft robots. Consequently, a key challenge in the field lies in innovating the structural designs to achieve more structure-induced locomotion modes and functionalities, thereby enhancing their adaptability and task performance in complex, unstructured environments.

This review article adopts the intrinsic relationship between structural configurations and locomotion modes as its framework, categorizing magnetic soft robots into four distinct types: one-dimensional, two-dimensional, three-dimensional, and fluid-based magnetic soft robots. The paper systematically summaries the diverse structure-induced locomotion modes and reveals their underlying correlations. Building upon this analysis, the work further identifies current challenges in the field and provides insightful perspectives on future development directions for structured magnetic soft robots.

The team published their work in FlexTech on March 31, 2025.

The remarkable diversity in locomotion modes enabled by distinct structural engineering has significantly expanded the application of magnetic soft robots. Moving forward, three critical directions will shape the future of the relevant research field, including i) synergetic design routes integrating structural configuration, locomotion mode, and task-specific functionality, ii) precision fabrication techniques at micro/nano scales, and iii) achieving higher levels of functional integration.

About Author

Renheng Bo, Ph.D., is currently a Research Associate Professor at the State Key Laboratory of Flexible Electronics Technology, Tsinghua University. He received his Ph.D. from the Research School of Engineering, the Australian National University, in 2020. At the end of 2020, he was awarded the National Postdoctoral International Exchange Program Fellowship and joined the School of Aerospace Engineering, Tsinghua University, as a postdoctoral researcher. Upon completing his postdoctoral training in 2023, he joined the State Key Laboratory of Flexible Electronics Technology at Tsinghua University as a Research Associate Professor.

Dr. Bo's research focuses on cutting-edge interdisciplinary areas, including 3D flexible electronic devices and synthesis of nano-functional thin-film materials. To date, he has published over 40 papers in prestigious journals such as Science, Science Advances, Advanced Materials, and Materials Today, among which more than 10 papers are first- or corresponding-authored, including Science and Chemical Reviews.

About FlexTech

FlexTech is a single-blind peer-reviewed, fully open access international journal co-published by Tsinghua University Press and Wiley, with the academic support provided by the Laboratory of Flexible Electronics Technology, Tsinghua University. FlexTech aims at publishing experimental and theoretical research on flexible technologies with new materials, creative structures, original integrating strategies, innovative fabrication methods, and pioneering applications.