Abstract
Current magnetic systems for microrobotic navigation consist of assemblies of electromagnets, which allow for the wireless accurate steering and propulsion of sub-millimetric bodies. However, large numbers of windings and/or high currents are needed in order to generate suitable magnetic fields and gradients. This means that magnetic navigation systems are typically cumbersome and require a lot of power, thus limiting their application fields. In this paper, we propose a novel propulsion method that is able to dramatically reduce the power demand of such systems. This propulsion method was conceived for navigation systems that achieve propulsion by pulling microrobots with magnetic gradients. We compare this power-efficient propulsion method with the traditional pulling propulsion, in the case of a microrobot swimming in a micro-structured confined liquid environment. Results show that both methods are equivalent in terms of accuracy and the velocity of the motion of the microrobots, while the new approach requires only one ninth of the power needed to generate the magnetic gradients. Substantial equivalence is demonstrated also in terms of the manoeuvrability of user-controlled microrobots along a complex path.
Highlights
The field of microrobotics has experienced tremendous advancements in recent years [1]
In the traditional control method, half of the magnetic gradient generated by each Maxwell pair is sacrificed, with the only advantage being that the microrobot is aligned along the direction of the magnetic field movement (i.e. θ = θm)
The humanbody and lab-on-a-chip applications of magnetic microrobots represent important examples where these features are fundamental. These microrobotic applications can greatly benefit from reduced encumbrance and power demand on the magnetic navigation systems
Summary
The field of microrobotics has experienced tremendous advancements in recent years [1]. Electromagnets are generally cumbersome and require high driving currents to generate adequate magnetic fields and, especially, gradients This implies that the power consumption and the heat produced by a magnetic navigation system could be very high [6, 8, 12]. We developed and implemented a propulsion method that significantly reduces power consumption without hardware modifications or loss of navigation performance. This feature makes our solution for power reduction very flexible for different platforms. We implemented a power-efficient method for this kind of electromagnetic system and we employed a 2D magnetic navigation system to experimentally evaluate its performances.
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