Magnetic field-enhanced vertical integration enables embodied intelligence in untethered soft robots.

Abstract

Embodied intelligence in soft robotics offers unprecedented capabilities for operating in uncertain, confined, and fragile environments that challenge conventional technologies. However, achieving true embodied intelligence-which requires continuous environmental sensing, real-time control, and autonomous decision-making-faces challenges in energy management and system integration. We developed deformation-resilient flexible batteries with enhanced performance under magnetic fields inherently present in magnetically actuated soft robots, with capacity retention after 200 cycles improved from 31.3 to 57.3%. These compliant batteries enable large-area deployment of 44.9% across the robot body, and their vertical integration with rationally designed flexible hybrid circuits minimizes additional stiffness while maintaining deformability. This actuator-battery-sensor vertical integration methodology maximizes functional area utilization in a manta ray-inspired soft robot, establishing an untethered platform with sensing, communication, and stable power supply. The system demonstrates embodied intelligence in aquatic environments through diverse capabilities including perturbation correction, obstacle avoidance, and temperature monitoring, with proprioceptive and environmental sensing enabling real-time decision-making during magnetically actuated locomotion.