Bio-Inspired Stored Magnetic Energy Actuator with Transient Triggering and Programmable Logic

Smart actuators generally face the problems of limited response speed, dependence on external energy supply, and lack of multi-environmental signal logic judgment capability. Therefore, this study proposes a new paradigm of bionic magnetic energy actuator, which realizes high-speed autonomous response without external energy source by fusing magnetic transient triggering with programmable environmental logic gating strategy. Based on direct ink writing 3D printing technology, an integrated structure of “magnetic energy storage-environmental unlocking” is constructed by combining the directional magnetization design of a hard magnetic material (NdFeB/polydimethylsiloxane) with an environment-responsive locking material (phase-change wax, polyvinylpyrrolidone/ethanol solution). This structure synergizes the slow response of environmental signals with the transient release of magnetic energy at millisecond level, and the release rate of magnetic energy is several orders of magnitude higher than that of the traditional stimulus-responsive actuator; meanwhile, based on the biomimetic “and gate” logic coding, the precise conditional judgment of time-sequential environmental signals (e.g., “high temperature → rain”) has been realized. The results show that the actuator can simulate high-speed seed ejection, multimodal gripping, and logic-gated bouncing behaviors of biological prototypes. This research provides new ideas for environmentally adaptive robots in wild scenarios, with potential applications in ecological restoration and precision agriculture.