Walking of a magnetically bipedal microrobot

Magnetic microrobots with walking capability are reported. A magnetic object subjected to an externally magnetic field would be attracted and rotated due to the interaction between the field and the induced internal magnetization. Based on this principle, a magnetic microrobot with two legs was designed and fabricated. To remotely power and control the microrobot, a permanent magnet was used to generate an external magnetic field. Controlling by this field, the microrobot can walk in biped fashion. The surfaces that the microrobot walks can be in dry or wet enviroment. In dry environment, the microrobot with a size of 500 × 280 × 150 μm³ achieved a maximum linear speed of 125 μm/s.