Real-time in-situ magnetization reprogramming for soft robotics

Magnetic soft robots offer considerable potential across various scenarios, such as biomedical applications and industrial tasks, due to their shape programmability and reconfigurability, safe interaction, and biocompatibility1–4. Despite recent advances, magnetic soft robots are still limited by the difficulties in reprogramming their required magnetization profiles in real time on the spot (in situ), which is essential for performing multiple functions or executing diverse tasks5,6. Here, we introduce a method for real-time, in situ magnetization reprogramming that enables the rearrangement and recombination of magnetic units to achieve diverse magnetization profiles. We explore the applications of this method in structures of varying dimensions, from one-dimensional (1D) tubes to three-dimensional (3D) frameworks, showcasing a diverse and expanded range of configurations and their deformations. This method also demonstrates versatility in diverse scenarios, including navigating around objects without undesired contact, reprogramming cilia arrays, managing multiple instruments cooperatively or independently under the same magnetic field, and manipulating objects of various shapes. These capabilities extend the range of applications for magnetic actuation technologies. Furthermore, this method emancipates magnetic soft robots from the sole reliance on external magnetic fields for shape change, facilitating unprecedented modes and varieties of deformation while simultaneously reducing the need for complex magnetic field generation systems; thereby, opening new avenues for the development of magnetic actuation technologies.
© The Author(s) 2025