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Scientists Discover Way to Send Information into Black Holes Without Using Energy

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A Butterfly Inspired This Tiny Robot Breakthrough & What It Can Do Is Incredible

Researchers from the University of Stuttgart and the Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research have developed tiny ceramic rolls that can quickly roll and unroll when controlled by a magnetic field. Inspired by the elegant movement of a butterfly’s proboscis, these miniature structures could help create smaller, smarter and more efficient robotic systems.

The research, published in Advanced Materials, introduces a new platform for producing programmable three-dimensional ceramic microscrolls. The technology could eventually support advances in microrobots, soft robotics, sensors, electronic components and energy-storage systems.

A New Approach to Tiny Robotic Actuators

Robots need actuators to create movement. In conventional robots, actuators control parts such as arms, joints and grippers. But designing actuators for microrobots is much more difficult because every component must work at a very small scale.

Soft robots face a different challenge. They are designed with flexible materials that can bend, stretch and adapt to their surroundings. Their actuators therefore need to be both functional and flexible.

These challenges require new materials and manufacturing methods.

A research team led by Dr. Zaklina Burghard, group leader at the Institute for Materials Science at the University of Stuttgart, has developed a platform that addresses these needs. Instead of simply creating another miniature actuator, the researchers developed a way to transform extremely thin functional films into three-dimensional ceramic microscrolls within seconds.

"Micro- and soft robotics require actuators that enable robotic systems to grasp, move and interact with their environment," Burghard explains. The new microscrolls are designed to serve as compact actuation elements for future robotic systems.

Inspired by a Butterfly

The idea came from nature, but not because butterflies use their proboscis as an actuator.

Instead, researchers were interested in the way a butterfly’s long, tube-like proboscis rolls and unrolls. This simple but elegant movement provided a model for creating a similar mechanical motion at the microscopic scale.

To make the microscrolls, the researchers used ultrathin films of vanadium pentoxide containing magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles. These films can be converted into tightly wound three-dimensional structures through a relatively simple mechanical process.

The process begins by gently peeling the thin ceramic film away from its supporting surface using a razor blade. As the blade moves, it bends the released film continuously. This causes the film to curl and form a tightly wound microscroll within seconds.

The resulting structure can then be controlled using a magnet.

When a magnet is brought close to the microscroll, the magnetic force causes it to rapidly unroll. When the magnetic field is removed, the structure rolls back into its original shape.

This reversible movement gives the microscrolls their potential as miniature actuators.

Ceramic That Can Bend Without Breaking

Ceramics are normally associated with hardness and brittleness. That makes the flexibility of these microscrolls particularly interesting.

Although the structures are made from ceramic material, their extremely thin films can bend and deform without breaking. Researchers attribute this unusual behavior to a carefully designed hierarchical structure at the nano- and microscale.

This bio-inspired structure allows the material to undergo elastic deformation while maintaining its overall strength and integrity.

The result is a ceramic material that combines properties that are normally difficult to achieve together: strength, flexibility and functionality.

Tiny Size, Impressive Performance

The dimensions of the microscrolls are remarkably small. Individual rolls can be only a few micrometers wide, while their coiled diameter can be just a few hundred micrometers.

When completely unrolled, however, they can reach lengths of up to 25 millimeters.

Despite their tiny size, the microscrolls have demonstrated significant mechanical performance. In experiments, they were able to move loads more than 30 times their own weight.

Durability was another important result. The researchers tested the structures through 5,000 rolling and unrolling cycles, and the microscrolls continued to function properly.

Such durability is essential if these materials are eventually used in practical robotic systems, where actuators may need to perform thousands or millions of movements.

Multiple Microscrolls Can Work Together

The technology could become even more useful when many microscrolls are combined.

According to Burghard, the microscrolls can be organized into programmable arrays. This means multiple miniature actuators could potentially operate together and perform coordinated movements.

For example, an array could be designed to lift, transport or manipulate microscopic objects.

Such coordinated movement could be valuable for microrobots that need to interact with very small objects or operate in confined environments. It could also support future soft robotic systems that require lightweight and flexible mechanisms.

The ability to control many actuators together could make the technology more versatile than a single microscroll acting alone.

The Platform May Be More Important Than the Actuator

The researchers believe that the biggest significance of their work may not be the particular ceramic microscroll they developed, but the manufacturing platform behind it.

Vanadium pentoxide was selected as the model material because it has been a major focus of Burghard’s research and provided a suitable foundation for demonstrating the concept.

However, the researchers believe the scrolling technique could potentially be adapted to other organic and inorganic thin-film materials.

This opens up a much wider range of possibilities.

Future versions of the technology could potentially be designed for electronic components, sensors, energy-storage devices and multifunctional microsystems. Different materials could provide different electrical, magnetic, mechanical or chemical properties depending on the intended application.

Bringing Nature and Materials Science Together

The research is part of work being carried out in the Department of Bioinspired Materials at the University of Stuttgart’s Institute for Materials Science.

The team combines ideas found in nature with modern materials science. The approach brings together physics, chemistry, computational modeling, mechanics, nanomaterials and advanced manufacturing.

The project also has an important educational history. Semi Kim carried out the first experimental studies as part of her master’s thesis in 2023. Those early experiments provided the foundation for the research that followed.

The team then expanded and refined the concept, leading to the development of the magnetic ceramic microscroll platform.

A Small Step Toward Future Microsystems

The new microscrolls demonstrate how ideas from nature can inspire entirely new engineering solutions.

A butterfly’s rolling proboscis may seem far removed from robotics, but its simple movement has helped researchers develop a miniature structure that can repeatedly change shape under magnetic control.

The technology is still at the research stage, and many steps will be needed before it becomes part of commercial robotic or electronic systems. Nevertheless, its combination of tiny size, flexibility, magnetic control, durability and impressive load capacity makes it promising.

As microrobotics and soft robotics continue to develop, researchers will need increasingly compact and efficient ways to create movement. These butterfly-inspired ceramic microscrolls offer one possible solution.

More importantly, the underlying manufacturing platform could allow researchers to turn a wide variety of thin-film materials into programmable three-dimensional structures.

That makes the work more than a new type of tiny actuator. It could become a versatile materials platform for building the next generation of miniature machines—showing once again how nature can provide powerful ideas for the technologies of the future.

Reference: S. Kim, S. R. Kousik, P. Atanasova, E. Goering, J. Bill, and Z. Burghard, “ Mechanically Assisted Magnetic Actuation in Ceramic-Based Microscrolls for Fast and Durable Soft Robotic Systems.” Advanced Materials (2026): e74544. https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.74544

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