Design and Analysis of Magnetic Helical Micro-swimmers with Fully Deformable Shape

Untethered soft robots have garnered widespread attention due to their fast response, high maneuverability in confined spaces, and strong adaptability to complex environments. Magnetic soft robots can be deformed in an external magnetic field due to magnetic alignment of their flexible bodies. Furthermore, predicting the deformation of these soft robots using numerical and finite element analysis methods presents significant challenges, motivating the development of accurate modeling techniques. In this paper, a magnetic helical micro-swimmer with fully deformable shape is presented.The designed rectangular strip morphs into a helical shape in a static magnetic field and is propelled forward by a rotating magnetic field, demonstrating efficient locomotion in a liquid environment. Moreover, a finite element model of the helical micro-swimmer is established to predict its shape morphing, and experiments are conducted to verify the accuracy of the FEA results.