ArticleNature communications2025
Arc-heating actuated active-morphing insect robots.
Article in Nature communications, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed.
- Wire-form shape memory alloy actuators: modeling, design, and control.Microsystems & nanoengineering · 2026Review
- Reprogrammable Phase-Transition Composites for Adaptive Dynamic Shape Morphing.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2026Article
- An Untethered Ring-Shaped Miniature Robot with Axisymmetric Vibrations and Non-axisymmetrically Arranged Feet.Research (Washington, D.C.) · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
Abstract
In nature, insects can swiftly move and actively morph to adapt to complex and varied conditions. However, replicating this capability in insect-scale robots requires sophisticated structural designs, which are difficult to achieve at such a small scale without fundamental hardware innovations. This work proposes a coupling mechanism between actuation and morphing by combining an arc-heating actuator and shape memory alloy wires, presenting a fast insect-scale robot (83.4 body lengths per second) capable of active morphing and self-recovery. The arc-heating actuator is designed to provide the kinetic energy and the thermal energy essential for deforming the wires. The robot can compress its body thickness to traverse through a gap of 70% its height smoothly within 2.2 seconds and is amphibious. Furthermore, after enduring pressure 5 million times its weight, the robot is flattened, but fully recovers its original size and performance in just a few seconds.
Identifiers
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.