Remote control of self-assembled microswimmers

Physics governing the locomotion of microorganisms and other microsystems is dominated by viscous damping. An effective swimming strategy involves the non-reciprocal and periodic deformations of the considered body. Herein, we show that a magnetocapillary-driven self-assembly, composed of three soft-ferromagnetic beads, is able to swim along a liquid-air interface when driven by an external magnetic field. Moreover, the system can be fully controled, opening ways to explore low Reynolds number swimming and to create micromanipulators in various applications.