Researchers from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have developed a cucumber vine-inspired soft robot that can access hard to reach spaces via a single magnetic field.

According to the MIT team, the soft robot moves via an inchworm-like mechanism that is achieved via magnetized rubber polymer spirals.

Magnetic strategic portions of this soft robot allows it to move in three dimensions. Source: MIT/ANKEEVA et al.

To replicate the coiled tendrils of cucumber vines, two kinds of rubber were layered atop of one another, then heated and subsequently stretched into a thin fiber. As the thread cools, one of the rubbers contracts as the other maintains its form, thereby creating a tightly wound spiral. To enable movement, the researchers then strategically threaded a magnetizable material through the polymer spiral.

The researchers further explained that because custom magnetic patterns can be achieved according to the magnetized points throughout the soft robot’s body, individual soft bots can be mapped to move in assorted directions when exposed to a uniform weak magnetic field.

Further, a subtle field manipulation was demonstrated to enable the soft robots to vibrate, which allows them to carry payloads to specific locations and subsequently shake that cargo off in order to deliver it.

As such, the researchers are eyeing the tiny soft inchworm-like robots for biomedical applications wherein the robot could inch through human blood vessels and deliver drug payloads to designated locations.

An article detailing the soft robots, “Magnetically Actuated Fiber-Based Soft Robots,” appears in the journal Advanced Materials.

To see the soft robot move, watch the accompanying video that appears courtesy of MIT.