Roll-to-roll and paper folding for high-throughput fabrication of soft magneto-origami machines
Magneto-active soft machines which are capable of shape-morphing and locomotion have promising applications, such as untethered biomedical robots. Existing magneto-active soft machines, however, suffer from either complex fabrication methods or limited deformation strain. Mass production of high-performance magneto-active soft machines is still not available.
Dr Jiang (middle) & the team at Sun Yat-sen University. Credit: Sun Yat-Sen University
Recently, researchers from the school of biomedical engineering of the Sun Yat-Sen University, together with University of Science and Technology of China, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Southern University of Science and Technology developed a fabrication strategy that can fast construct 3D magneto-active soft machines by simply folding the 2D magnetic sheet and magnetizing. The mass fabrication can be realized by a roll-to-roll process. The magnetic polarity patterns of the magneto-active machines can be readily programmed by magnetizing the folded origami.
The research team is led by Dr. Lelun Jiang, Professor of the School of Biomedical Engineering (BME) at Sun Yat-Sen University (SYSU). The research findings have been published in Nature communications in an article titled “High-throughput Fabrication of Soft Magneto-origami Machines”.
Roll-to-Roll fabrication of magnetic sheet
The magnetic sheet for paper folding is fabricated by a Roll-to-Roll fabrication process. This method demonstrates the potential for high-throughput fabrication of magneto-active machines. Credit: Sun Yat-Sen University
The magnetic composite consists of magnetizable neodymium-iron-boron particles embedded in the polymer resin. The 2D magnetic sheet is made by coating and curing a layer of magnetic composite on a piece of raw paper. To achieve an automated fabrication of 2D magnetic sheets, a roll-to-roll platform was built. The major components of roll-to-roll platform consist of a roller of raw paper, a scraper that creates an even layer of uncured magnetic composite on the raw paper, a heater that cures the magnetic composite layer, a laser machine that cuts the magnetic sheet into designed patterns, and an end roller. After curing, the designed 2D pattern is cut using a laser with uncut connections.
Creating robot by paper folding
The torn 2D pattern can be folded into a 3D origami. To endow the magnetic response, the folded origami was then magnetized to saturation by an impulse magnetic field, yielding a residual magnetization. Thereafter, the magnetizing field and folding forces are removed, and the folded origami recovers partially to the rest state to form the magneto-origami machine.
Paper folding turns 2D paper sheet into 3D magneto-origami robots, associate with magnetizing. The creativity of origami enables to build huge number of magnetic robots with unique properties. Credit: Sun Yat-Sen University
The research also demonstrates a few potential applications: an electronic robot capable of on-demand deploying and wireless charging, a mechanical 8-3 encoder, and a quadruped robot for cargo-release tasks, magneto-origami art – dancing butterfly and blooming flower.
Magneto-origami charging robot (MC-robot).
On the paper side of the 2D sheet, the MC-robot consists of an electronic circuit that can be wirelessly charged by an induction coil. The MC robot can be folded into a cuboid-like structure. The researcher demonstrates the motion, deploying, and wireless charging in a pig stomach phantom. By vibrating the magnet, the MC robot can navigate across the uneven surfaces of the stomach phantom at a speed of ~1 mm/s. Thereafter, an alternative magnetic field is applied to generate an electric current, producing a stable voltage of 3.3 V that lights two LEDs. They can be readily replaced by other functional electronics. By incorporating an electronic circuit, it is further empowered with wireless charging capability that can potentially provide for the long-term application of implantable electronic devices.
A magneto-origami robot capable of on-demand large area change and wireless charging. Credit: Sun Yat-Sen University
Bionic magneto-origami arts/crafts.
Enabled by the intrinsic folding capability of the magnetic sheet, magneto-origami machines can be built into magnetically responsive arts/crafts. The magneto-origami butterfly flaps its wings while the flower is blooming, under magnetic actuation. Background music can be played during the actuation process, leading to a beautiful and euphonic bionic art. One can manually control the motor to trigger the shape-morphing of the bionic magneto-origami machines, enjoying the fun of the hands-on operation and the beauty of the vivid art. Serving as a fascinating media for the dissemination of science and art, magneto-origami arts/crafts may have a far-reaching educational impact on public audiences, especially kids and students if exhibited in museums and schools.
Magneto-origami arts/crafts behave as natural as though it were living. Credit: Sun Yat-Sen University
Reference: “High-throughput Fabrication of Soft Magneto-origami Machines” by Shengzhu Yi, Liu Wang, Zhipeng Chen, Jian Wang, Xingyi Song, Pengfei Liu, Yuanxi Zhang, Qingqing Luo, Lelun Peng, Zhigang Wu, Chuan Fei Guo, Lelun Jiang., 19 July 2022, Nature communications.
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-31900-5
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