Find in Library

Intelligent micromachines that perform tasks in complex microenvironments by adjusting structural configurations and physical properties offer substantial potential for use in many fields, including precision medicine, microfluidic channels, micromanipulations, and bioengineering. Recent progress in smart materials and 4D microprinting provides a feasible strategy for fabricating compound micromachines by designing and assembling predictable 3D‐to‐3D shape‐morphing components. However, shape transformations of these components can only be triggered simultaneously by external stimuli, and orderly triggering among them cannot be achieved yet for an intended purpose of performing more efficient actions. Herein, a novel sequentially triggered strategy is proposed for developing intelligent micromachines that consist of multiple reconfigurable components that work interactively with each other. Furthermore, self‐locking micromachines with tunable coupling mechanisms that coordinate accurate time‐sequence deformations among components are achieved. Three types of locking couplings are modulated based on finite‐element analysis (FEA)‐aided design. The proposed method provides an effective strategy to create next‐generation intelligent micromachines that can change their shapes to adapt to complex situations and complete multiple tasks.