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Design of Microscale Magnetic Tumbling Robots for Locomotion in Multiple Environments and Complex Terrains

This paper presents several variations of a microscale magnetic tumbling ([Formula: see text] TUM) robot capable of traversing complex terrains in dry and wet environments. The robot is fabricated by photolithography techniques and consists of a polymeric body with two sections with embedded magneti...

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Autores principales: Bi, Chenghao, Guix, Maria, Johnson, Benjamin V., Jing, Wuming, Cappelleri, David J.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2018
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6187462/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30393344
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/mi9020068
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author Bi, Chenghao
Guix, Maria
Johnson, Benjamin V.
Jing, Wuming
Cappelleri, David J.
author_facet Bi, Chenghao
Guix, Maria
Johnson, Benjamin V.
Jing, Wuming
Cappelleri, David J.
author_sort Bi, Chenghao
collection PubMed
description This paper presents several variations of a microscale magnetic tumbling ([Formula: see text] TUM) robot capable of traversing complex terrains in dry and wet environments. The robot is fabricated by photolithography techniques and consists of a polymeric body with two sections with embedded magnetic particles aligned at the ends and a middle nonmagnetic bridge section. The robot’s footprint dimensions are 400 [Formula: see text] m × 800 [Formula: see text] m. Different end geometries are used to test the optimal conditions for low adhesion and increased dynamic response to an actuating external rotating magnetic field. When subjected to a magnetic field as low as 7 mT in dry conditions, this magnetic microrobot is able to operate with a tumbling locomotion mode and translate with speeds of over 60 body lengths/s (48 mm/s) in dry environments and up to 17 body lengths/s (13.6 mm/s) in wet environments. Two different tumbling modes were observed and depend on the alignment of the magnetic particles. A technique was devised to measure the magnetic particle alignment angle relative to the robot’s geometry. Rotational frequency limits were observed experimentally, becoming more prohibitive as environment viscosity increases. The [Formula: see text] TUM’s performance was studied when traversing inclined planes (up to 60°), showing promising climbing capabilities in both dry and wet conditions. Maximum open loop straight-line trajectory errors of less than 4% and 2% of the traversal distance in the vertical and horizontal directions, respectively, for the [Formula: see text] TUM were observed. Full directional control of [Formula: see text] TUM was demonstrated through the traversal of a P-shaped trajectory. Additionally, successful locomotion of the optimized [Formula: see text] TUM design over complex terrains was also achieved. By implementing machine vision control and/or embedding of payloads in the middle section of the robot, it is possible in the future to upgrade the current design with computer-optimized mobility through multiple environments and the ability to perform drug delivery tasks for biomedical applications.
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spelling pubmed-61874622018-11-01 Design of Microscale Magnetic Tumbling Robots for Locomotion in Multiple Environments and Complex Terrains Bi, Chenghao Guix, Maria Johnson, Benjamin V. Jing, Wuming Cappelleri, David J. Micromachines (Basel) Article This paper presents several variations of a microscale magnetic tumbling ([Formula: see text] TUM) robot capable of traversing complex terrains in dry and wet environments. The robot is fabricated by photolithography techniques and consists of a polymeric body with two sections with embedded magnetic particles aligned at the ends and a middle nonmagnetic bridge section. The robot’s footprint dimensions are 400 [Formula: see text] m × 800 [Formula: see text] m. Different end geometries are used to test the optimal conditions for low adhesion and increased dynamic response to an actuating external rotating magnetic field. When subjected to a magnetic field as low as 7 mT in dry conditions, this magnetic microrobot is able to operate with a tumbling locomotion mode and translate with speeds of over 60 body lengths/s (48 mm/s) in dry environments and up to 17 body lengths/s (13.6 mm/s) in wet environments. Two different tumbling modes were observed and depend on the alignment of the magnetic particles. A technique was devised to measure the magnetic particle alignment angle relative to the robot’s geometry. Rotational frequency limits were observed experimentally, becoming more prohibitive as environment viscosity increases. The [Formula: see text] TUM’s performance was studied when traversing inclined planes (up to 60°), showing promising climbing capabilities in both dry and wet conditions. Maximum open loop straight-line trajectory errors of less than 4% and 2% of the traversal distance in the vertical and horizontal directions, respectively, for the [Formula: see text] TUM were observed. Full directional control of [Formula: see text] TUM was demonstrated through the traversal of a P-shaped trajectory. Additionally, successful locomotion of the optimized [Formula: see text] TUM design over complex terrains was also achieved. By implementing machine vision control and/or embedding of payloads in the middle section of the robot, it is possible in the future to upgrade the current design with computer-optimized mobility through multiple environments and the ability to perform drug delivery tasks for biomedical applications. MDPI 2018-02-03 /pmc/articles/PMC6187462/ /pubmed/30393344 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/mi9020068 Text en © 2018 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Bi, Chenghao
Guix, Maria
Johnson, Benjamin V.
Jing, Wuming
Cappelleri, David J.
Design of Microscale Magnetic Tumbling Robots for Locomotion in Multiple Environments and Complex Terrains
title Design of Microscale Magnetic Tumbling Robots for Locomotion in Multiple Environments and Complex Terrains
title_full Design of Microscale Magnetic Tumbling Robots for Locomotion in Multiple Environments and Complex Terrains
title_fullStr Design of Microscale Magnetic Tumbling Robots for Locomotion in Multiple Environments and Complex Terrains
title_full_unstemmed Design of Microscale Magnetic Tumbling Robots for Locomotion in Multiple Environments and Complex Terrains
title_short Design of Microscale Magnetic Tumbling Robots for Locomotion in Multiple Environments and Complex Terrains
title_sort design of microscale magnetic tumbling robots for locomotion in multiple environments and complex terrains
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6187462/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30393344
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/mi9020068
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