Inspired by the way sea turtles rely on the Earth’s magnetic field for navigation and locomotion, a novel magnetic soft robotic turtle with programmable magnetization has been developed and investigated to achieve biomimetic locomotion patterns such as straight-line swimming and turning swimming. The soft robotic turtle (12.50 mm in length and 0.24 g in weight) is integrated with an Ecoflex-based torso and four magnetically programmed acrylic elastomer VHB-based limbs containing samarium-iron–nitrogen particles, and was able to carry a load more than twice its own weight. Similar to the limb locomotion characteristics of sea turtles, the magnetic torque causes the four limbs to mimic sinusoidal bending deformation under the influence of an external magnetic field, so that the turtle swims continuously forward. Significantly, when the bending deformation magnitudes of its left and right limbs differ, the soft robotic turtle switches from straight-line to turning swimming at 6.334 rad/s. Furthermore, the tracking swimming activities of the soft robotic turtle along specific planned paths, such as square-shaped, S-shaped, and double U-shaped maze, is anticipated to be utilized for special detection and targeted drug delivery, among other applications owing to its superior remote directional control ability.

受海龟依靠地球磁场进行导航和运动的方式的启发，我们开发并研究了一种具有可编程磁化强度的新型磁性软机器龟，以实现直线游泳和转弯游泳等仿生运动模式。软体机器龟（长 12.50 毫米，重 0.24 克）与基于 Ecoflex 的躯干和四个包含钐铁氮颗粒的磁性编程丙烯酸弹性体 VHB 的四肢集成在一起，能够承载超过自身重量的两倍。与海龟的肢体运动特性类似，磁扭矩使四个肢体在外部磁场的影响下模仿正弦弯曲变形，从而使海龟不断向前游动。值得注意的是，当左右肢的弯曲变形幅度不同时，软体机器龟以 6.334 rad/s 的速度从直线游动切换到转弯游动。此外，软体机器龟沿着特定规划路径（例如方形、S形和双U形迷宫）跟踪游泳活动，预计将用于特殊检测和靶向药物输送等应用。其卓越的远程定向控制能力。