3. Conclusion
A magnetic field-actuated liquid metal-based droplet robot was designed
and developed that can be applied for reconfigurable and transient
electronics, i.e., as a remote-controlled circuit switch. These robots
comprise of the liquid metal and the magnetic particle iron
pentacarbonyl. Upon exertion of an external magnetic field (by a
permanent magnet), the magnetic liquid metal-based soft robot can
undergo reversible elongation, bending, and on-demand locomotion.
Programmable shape encoding of the liquid metal robots and the phase
transition of the robot between liquid and solid states can be utilized
to fix a desired shape via ice cooling and infrared light irradiation.
Furthermore, on-demand merging and splitting up of the soft robots can
be achieved by controlling the direction and shape of the electric
field. The on-demand elongation and bending of the soft robots was used
in a dynamic and recyclable switch in a complex circuit. Compared with
traditional miniature electronic switches, the liquid metal droplet
robot enables simple and remote control of the complex circuits in a
reconfigurable manner, which effectively simplifies the circuit layout.
In addition, the liquid metal soft robot can be removed and recycled by
removing the robot with the help of the magnetic field. In this case,
the open circuit is regained together with the reusable soft robot.
Besides, multiple liquid metal droplet robots can repair damaged
sections of microcircuits by remote actuation, controllable coalescence,
and on-demand circuit welding. The technology provides a new application
scenario of droplet-based soft robots for on-demand circuit welding and
transient recyclable electronics.