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Soft robots controlled by different actuation schemes are flourishing owing to the continued development of smart materials. However, most of the existing actuators are powered by a single source with predetermined mechanical properties and motion characteristics. Speed, power, and efficiency of these actuators are thus far inferior to their conventional counter parts. How to preload or alter the internal energy distribution and trigger rapid kinetic energy release combined with re‐programmability is a challenge and corresponding solutions will extend the practical use of soft robotics. Herein, a hybrid magnetically and photothermally responsive actuator with high degrees of freedom by using a coupled‐field manipulation strategy is proposed. As a proof‐of‐concept, a crab robot (CraBot) that contains uniformly distributed superparamagnetic particles and localized light‐responsive joints is produced. The spatial magnetic field exerts force on the robot, leading to real‐time adjustment of energy distribution within the entire robot. Meanwhile, the focused light field enables selective deformation of specific joints, releasing the accumulated energy into kinetic energy of motion for quick actuation. The directional accumulation and addressable release of elastic energy enables the CraBot to walk efficiently with improved power and speed. Such a hybrid‐field manipulation strategy holds great promise for sophisticated actuation of soft robots. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stimuli-Responsive Materials: Smart Compound Eyes Enable Tunable Imaging (Adv. Funct. Keywords: compound eyes; femtosecond laser; smart materials; tunable optical components; variable-focus imaging Compound eyes, femtosecond laser, smart materials, tunable optical components, variable-focus imaging. [Extracted from the article]

Compound eyes are natural multiaperture optical imaging systems and have substantial potential in the field of modern optics. However, both natural and artificial compound eyes are composed of ommatidia with fixed focal lengths, and thus incapable of variable‐focus imaging. In this study, inspired by the tunable crystalline lens of human eyes, smart stimuli‐responsive compound eyes based on the bovine serum album (BSA) protein are fabricated via femtosecond laser direct writing. Due to the swelling and shrinking effect of BSA under different pH conditions, a tunable field of view (FOV, 35°–80°) and variable focal length of ommatidia are achieved. In addition to the direct prototyping of an entire protein‐based compound eye, the ability to flexibly integrate the smart protein ommatidia with a conventional optical lens (an SU‐8 lens in this study) to form a composite compound eye is shown. The composite compound eye achieves nearly 400% of focal length tuning at a fixed FOV. It is anticipated that femtosecond laser fabrication and the integration of smart protein‐based compound eyes may emerge as an enabler for fabricating miniature tunable imaging systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Magnetic fiber robots have revealed great potential for future minimally invasive robotic surgery. However, with the miniaturization of fiber robots, the integration of functional microtools at the distal end becomes extremely challenging, since it requires assembling multifunctional structures on the curved surfaces of fiber ends, which typically have very small curvature radii. In this study, a submillimeter fiber robot with integrated micro‐manipulation tool at the distal end is reported using a "Swiss roll" assembly strategy. This approach enables the one‐step assembly of multiscale structures (mm‐µm) from a 2D film to a 3D tool on the curved surface of the fiber robot. The multiscale structure consists of a millimeter‐scale (mm) magnetic thin film with integrated micrometer‐scale (µm) feature structures, which is inspired from the cat tongue covered by numerous little papillae. The fiber robot can perform multiple functions including endovascular clot grabbing, liquid delivery, and sampling under the manipulation of the magnetic field. The strategy provides a universal protocol for integrating and assembling functional components at the distal end of fiber robots, contributing significantly to the functionalization and miniaturization of interventional medical robots. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article titled "Magnetic Fiber Robots with Multiscale Functional Structures at the Distal End" introduces a new type of submillimeter fiber robot that utilizes magnetic manipulation. The robot is capable of performing multiple functions under a magnetic field and is assembled using a "Swiss roll" strategy. This approach allows for the one-step assembly of multiscale structures, ranging from millimeters to micrometers, on the curved surface of the fiber robot. The authors of the article are Bing Han, Hesheng Wang, Zhuo-Chen Ma, and their colleagues. [Extracted from the article]