Object Manipulation with Freestanding Magnetic Microfibers Fabricated by FDM 3D Printing

In this research, a new object manipulation method is proposed via the functional surface composed of the freestanding magnetic microfibers to realize the movement of objects under the magnetic fields. An improved multi-fragment extrusion (MFE) manufacturing method by fused deposition modeling (FDM) 3D printing has been developed to fabricate uniform magnetic microfibers in the range of $200\ \mu \mathrm{m} \sim 400\ \mu \mathrm{m}$ in thickness and 2 ∼ 4 cm in length. The geometric parameters of magnetic microfibers have been studied to optimize the performance of object manipulation. As a result, it is found that microfiber with thickness of $200\ \mu \mathrm{m}$ and length of 4 cm has a better mechanical response, such as less energy consumption, small hysteresis error, and larger bending angle. In addition, different pitches of the magnetic functional surfaces are investigated, and the result indicates that the surface with $600\ \mu \mathrm{m}$ pitch performs better manipulation to convey an object due to higher driving force supported by more dense microfibers.