Magnetization strategy and deformation response of thin-sheet helical morphology transformation

Abstract Due to their exceptional programmable magnetization properties, magnetic-driven soft robots exhibit promising application prospects in domains like bionics and biomedical by achieving complex deformations under magnetic field actuation. Appropriate magnetization techniques and magnetization curve programming are essential for achieving complicated deformations in magnetic-driven robots. This research builds a magnetically driven soft robot that can reversibly change from a thin-sheet to a helical morphology using a helical template-patterning magnetization approach. It examines the impact of material parameters and helical structural dimensions on the magnetization effect and ensuing deformations by developing an axial pulsed magnetization scheme, a theoretical model of magnetic moment distribution, and combining finite element simulation with experimental validation. The study’s findings show that remanent magnetization rises as the penetration distance of magnetic flux lines grows and falls as the cross-sectional area through which the lines pass increases. Additionally, the magnetic-driven robot’s torsion angle and deformation helical angle are influenced by the strength of the remanent magnetism. Future studies on the magnetization results of patterned-magnetized magnetic-driven robots, deformation of magnetic drive robots and their applications in diverse fields would benefit from the magnetization analysis of this magnetic-driven soft robot and its impact on deformation.