来自一组研究人员的最新发现Massachusetts Institute of Technology（麻省理工学院）显示磁性3D印刷生物，能够滚动，爬行，爬行，折叠和捕获物体，而没有任何“弦”。
这些令人难以置信的栩栩如生的结构由一种新型的软材料制成，在智能机器人开发中几乎具有无限的潜力，尤其是在医学领域。
“There is no ideal candidate for a soft robot that can perform in an enclosed space like a human body, where you’d want to carry out certain tasks untethered,” explains Yoonho Kim, co-author of a paper explaining the discoveries.
“That’s why we think there’s great promise in this idea of magnetic actuation, because it is fast, forceful, body-benign, and can be remotely controlled.”
软机器人技术和4D打印
The developing field of soft robotics is affording scientists the opportunity to create more flexible, and therefore more versatile, machines. Soft robots, likeHarvard University’s well-known Octobot, are designed to move using mechanisms that more closely resemble living organisms.
“Living” mechanisms, like muscles, are often replicated by液压或气动力量。但是，为了使这些系统更加聪明，更适应能力，需要通过人类操作员几乎没有投入来激活它们。
4D printing, i.e. 3D printing materials that autonomously transform, is one area that is discovering new ways of “hands free” activation. But, at present, the process often takes too long, and it isn’t easily reversible.
时地解放显示加热时4D打印的四面体组装。通过Eth Zurich剪辑工程设计和计算实验室在YouTube上
Magnetic 3D printing
麻省理工学院’s magnetic objects are 3D printed on a specially designed platform, from a newly-formulated ink infused with magnetic particles.
The platform hosts a 3D printer nozzle in the center of an electromagnet, which is used to control the orientation of particles in the ink. When deposited, the ink flows much like the perfect cake frosting.
With magnetic particle control, combined with a flexible material, the researchers are capable of programming a 3D printed shape to move in a certain way when a field is applied.
医学的灵感
Xuanhe赵,这项研究的首席作者相信objects developed in this latest research could find promising application in the field of biomedicine, much like othermicro robots。
“For example,” Zhao explains, “we could put a structure around a blood vessel to control the pumping of blood, or use a magnet to guide a device through the GI tract to take images […]”
“您可以设计，模拟然后打印以实现各种功能。”
To explore the full range of possibilities open to these devices, the MIT team has made the predictive model used to make creatures available for others to use.
“Printing ferromagnetic domains for untethered fast-transforming soft materials” is published online innaturejournal. It is co-authored by Yoonho Kim, Hyunwoo Yuk, Ruike Zhao, Shawn A. Chester and Xuanhe Zhao.
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特色图像显示了具有类似蜘蛛的能力的雪花形状的3D打印磁性结构。通过麻省理工学院/自然剪辑
