A Controllable Cargo Delivery Vehicle Driven by Electrically Actuated Galinstan Droplets

As an emerging functional material, liquid metal has attracted extensive attention due to its unique physical/chemical properties. Particularly, the combination of the intrinsic fluidity with rapidly stimuli-responsiveness to electrical field endows it potential as soft actuators to be employed in soft robots. Herein, we developed a small controllable vehicle driven by electrically actuated Galinstan droplets. A series of experiments were carried out to evaluate the vehicle's performance, including straight translational locomotion at various speeds and rotational motion from different starting angles. And then, the vehicle's excellent mobility is further demonstrated through its ability to follow complex trajectories. More importantly, by redesigning the vehicle's frame, it can be adapted for multiple functions, such as cargo transportation and loading/unloading tasks. The present finding is envisaged to have the potential to expand current research on soft robot and further advance the development of micro-factory.