Multifunctional Magnetic Origami Robots

Millimeter/centimeter-scale origami robots have recently been explored for biomedical applications due to their inherent shape-morphing capability. However, they mainly rely on passive or/and irreversible deformation that significantly hinders the clinic functions in an on-demand manner. Here, we report magnetically actuated crawling and swimming origami robots for effective locomotion and targeted drug delivery in severely confined spaces and aqueous environments. We design our robots based on the Kresling origami, whose thin shell structure 1) provides an internal cavity for drug storage, 2) permits torsion-induced contraction as the mechanism for crawling and controllable drug release, 3) serves as propellers that spin for propulsion to swim, 4) offers anisotropic stiffness to overcome the large resistance from the severely confined spaces in biomedical environments. These magnetic origami robots can potentially serve as minimally invasive devices for biomedical diagnoses and treatments.