Ultrafast small-scale soft electromagnetic robots.

High-speed locomotion is an essential survival strategy for animals, allowing populating harsh and unpredictable environments. Bio-inspired soft robots equally benefit from versatile and ultrafast motion but require appropriate driving mechanisms and device designs. Here, we present a class of small-scale soft electromagnetic robots made of curved elastomeric bilayers, driven by Lorentz forces acting on embedded printed liquid metal channels carrying alternating currents with driving voltages of several volts in a static magnetic field.

iSens: A Fiber-Based, Highly Permeable and Imperceptible Sensor Design.

Embedded sensors are key to optimizing processes and products; they collect data that allow time, energy, and materials to be saved, thereby reducing costs. After production, they remain in place and are used to monitor the long-term structural health of buildings or aircraft. Fueled by climate change, sustainable construction materials such as wood and fiber composites are gaining importance.

Soft electromagnetic actuators.

Rigid electromagnetic actuators serve our society in a myriad of ways for more than 200 years. However, their bulky nature restricts close collaboration with humans. Here, we introduce soft electromagnetic actuators (SEMAs) by replacing solid metal coils with liquid-metal channels embedded in elastomeric shells.

Resilient yet entirely degradable gelatin-based biogels for soft robots and electronics.

Biodegradable and biocompatible elastic materials for soft robotics, tissue engineering or stretchable electronics with good mechanical properties, tunability, modifiability or healing properties drive technological advance, and yet they are not durable under ambient conditions and do not combine all the attributes in a single platform. We have developed a versatile gelatin-based biogel, which is highly resilient with outstanding elastic characteristics, yet degrades fully when disposed. It self-adheres, is rapidly healable and derived entirely from natural and food-safe constituents.