Researchers at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Research and the Harvard C A Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences have developed robots which are able to move within a magnetic field without using batteries or power supplies , according to an article in Science Robotics . The plastic devices are made of a shape - memory material which contracts when heated and expands when cool , with the temperature being controlled by an external coil . The team built several sizes of robot to demonstrate ease of scalability .
Researchers at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering and the Harvard John A Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences have developed robots which are able to move within a magnetic field without using batteries or power cables, according to an article in Science Robotics. The plastic devices are made of a shape-memory alloy which contracts when heated and expands when cool, with the temperature changes controlled by an external coil. The team built several sizes of robot to demonstrate ease of scalability.