Abstract
In this paper, we have developed an approach for independent autonomous navigation of multiple microrobots under the influence of magnetic fields and validated it experimentally. We first developed a heuristics based planning algorithm for generating collision-free trajectories for the microrobots that are suitable to be executed by an available magnetic field. Second, we have modeled the dynamics of the microrobots to develop a controller for determining the forces that need to be generated for the navigation of the robots along the trajectories at a suitable control frequency. Next, an optimization routine is developed to determine the input currents to the electromagnetic coils that can generate the required forces for the navigation of the robots at the controller frequency. We then validated our approach by simulating an electromagnetic system that contains an array of sixty-four magnetic microcoils designed for generating local magnetic fields suitable for simultaneous independent actuation of multiple microrobots. Finally, we prototyped an -scale version of the system and present experimental results showing the validity of our approach.
Highlights
Manipulation of micro- and nanoscale objects is considered the enabling step for many biological and manufacturing tasks that might potentially revolutionize the respective industry
We have demonstrated the automated path planning approach as well as independent control of multiple robots with two physical experiments
Generating local magnetic fields and the automated actuation of multiple robots to manipulate a large number of objects independently is challenging
Summary
Manipulation of micro- and nanoscale objects is considered the enabling step for many biological and manufacturing tasks that might potentially revolutionize the respective industry. Microfluidics [1], electrostatic [2], magnetic manipulation [3,4], Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) [5], optical tweezers (OT) [6,7,8], fixed manipulators [9,10], and micro-grippers [11] are some of the enabling technologies proposed for micro and nanoscale manipulation. Many of these technologies (e.g., OT, magnetic manipulation, etc.) use small agents that can be treated as robots to manipulate microscale objects. The following are some of the approaches researchers have developed to control multiple robots independently
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