The materials composing soft robots and nanorobots have a critical role in these rapidly advancing fields because they determine the capabilities, complexity, and reproducibility of their motions. Remote actuation with magnetic fields is of intense interest for soft robots and nanorobots because magnetic fields can penetrate long distances, are biocompatible, and offer directional control of a structure’s motion. Magnetic materials are also programmable through magnetic hysteresis and magnetic anisotropy, including magnetocrystalline anisotropy, shape anisotropy, and anisotropy through interacting particles, such as chains. This symposium aims to bring together an interdisciplinary group of researchers from soft robotics and nanorobotics to present and discuss the latest developments in these fields. All experimental and theoretical aspects of these materials and their applications are of interest, including the design of new materials and actuation mechanisms, fabrication (including self-assembly and 3D printing), structural design, programmability, reconfigurability, multifunctionality, collective behavior, apparatus for actuation, modeling material and actuation behaviors, controls (including artificial intelligence), integrated sensing for responding to environmental stimuli, biomedical applications, assistive devices, augmented reality, and aerospace applications. Bottom-up and top-down methods for fabrication and structures with mechanical properties spanning soft and hard materials are of interest.

composite Magnetic magnetic properties microscale nanoscale polymer responsive robotics shape-shifting