  Artificial microswimmers are a new technology with promising microfluidics
and biomedical applications, such as directed cargo transport, microscale
assembly, and targeted drug delivery. A fundamental barrier to realising this
potential is the ability to control the trajectories of multiple individuals
within a large group. A promising navigation mechanism for "fuel-based"
microswimmers, for example autophoretic Janus particles, entails modulating the
local environment to guide the swimmer, for instance by etching grooves in
microchannels. However, such techniques are currently limited to bulk guidance.
This paper will argue that by manufacturing microswimmers from phoretic
filaments of flexible shape-memory polymer, elastic transformations can
modulate swimming behaviour, allowing precision navigation of selected
individuals within a group through complex environments.
