Origami Structure Gives Magnetic Robot Several Ways to Move

The robot moves while remaining in its current configuration.. Small disturbances produce movements within each configuration. The separate switching mechanism uses stronger pulses, so movement need not involve a change of configuration.

Clue: Small magnetic disturbances produce different movements in each configuration. Stronger pulses trigger a switch between them, enabling rapid actions such as grasping. The researchers demonstrated crawling, turning, jumping and rolling as well as object capture.

An experimentally demonstrated design approach. The final paragraph explicitly describes a design approach and does not establish a finished commercial product.

Clue: Many magnetic mini-robots require highly uniform, precise fields. Here, the folded geometry helps manage motion under less uniform fields. The experiments demonstrate a design approach; they do not establish a finished commercial product.