Abstract
This paper presents a new strategy for simultaneous control of multiple magnetic Micro Robots (MRs) improving stability and robustness with respect to external disturbances. Independent control of multiple MRs, can enhance efficiency and allows for performing more challenging applications. In this study, we present a system consisting of a Helmholtz coil and 2N Permanent Magnets (PMs), rotated by servomotors, to control several MRs. We have also improved the system’s stability by adding a larger MR (stabilizer MR). This MR can be moved all around the workspace and works as a moving internal magnetic field source. Thanks to this moveable magnetic field, other MRs are more stable against environmental disturbances. By simulating simultaneous and independent control of multiple MRs, we demonstrate the advantages of using the stabilizer MR (more than 20 percent reduction in tracking error and control effort). In addition, we evaluate experimentally our proposed method to independently control the position of three MRs using a stabilizer MR demonstrating the efficacy of the strategy.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Explore related subjects
Discover the latest articles, news and stories from top researchers in related subjects.Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
Code or Data Availability
The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
References
Chen, W., Fan, X., Sun, M., Xie, H.: The cube-shaped hematite microrobot for biomedical application. Mechatronics 74, 102498 (2021)
Zarrouk, A., Belharet, K., Tahri, O.: Vision-based magnetic actuator positioning for wireless control of microrobots. Robot. Auton. Syst. 124, 103366 (2020)
Chang, X., et al.: Motile Micropump based on synthetic micromotors for dynamic micropatterning. ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces. 11(31), 28507–28514 (2019)
Rahman, M.A., Cheng, J., Wang, Z., Ohta, A.T.: Cooperative micromanipulation using the independent actuation of fifty microrobots in parallel. Sci. Rep. 7(1), 1–11 (2017)
Chalvet, V., Haddab, Y., Lutz, P.: Trajectory planning for micromanipulation with a nonredundant digital microrobot: shortest path algorithm optimization with a hypercube graph representation. J. Mech. Robot. 8(2), 021013 (2016)
Kong, L., Guan, J., Pumera, M.: Micro-and nanorobots based sensing and biosensing. Curr. Opin. Electrochem. 10, 174–182 (2018)
Kim, K., Guo, J., Liang, Z., Fan, D.: Artificial micro/nanomachines for bioapplications: Biochemical delivery and diagnostic sensing. Adv. Func. Mater. 28(25), 1705867 (2018)
Kim, S., Lee, S., Lee, J., Nelson, B.J., Zhang, L., Choi, H.: Fabrication and manipulation of ciliary microrobots with non-reciprocal magnetic actuation. Sci. Rep. 6, 30713 (2016)
Wang, C., et al.: Review of bionic crawling micro-robots. J. Intell. Rob. Syst. 105(3), 56 (2022)
Pérez-Arancibia, N.O., Duhamel, P.-E.J., Ma, K.Y., Wood, R.J.: Model-free control of a hovering flapping-wing microrobot: the design process of a stabilizing multiple-input–multiple-output controller. J. Intell. Rob. Syst. 77, 95–111 (2015)
Li, D., Liu, C., Yang, Y., Wang, L., Shen, Y.: Micro-rocket robot with all-optic actuating and tracking in blood. Light Sci. Appl. 9(1), 1–10 (2020)
Gao, D., et al.: Optical manipulation from the microscale to the nanoscale: fundamentals, advances and prospects. Light Sci. Appl. 6(9), e17039 (2017)
Ahmed, D., et al.: Rotational manipulation of single cells and organisms using acoustic waves. Nat. Commun. 7(1), 1–11 (2016)
Ozcelik, A., et al.: Acoustic tweezers for the life sciences. Nat. Methods 15(12), 1021–1028 (2018)
Wang, F., Zhao, X., Guo, H., Tian, Y., Zhang, D.: Design of a probe-type acoustic tweezer by acoustic-streaming field optimization. Int. J. Mech. Sci. 107936 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijmecsci.2022.107936
Xuan, X.: Recent advances in direct current electrokinetic manipulation of particles for microfluidic applications. Electrophoresis 40(18–19), 2484–2513 (2019)
Zhao, Q., Chen, J., Zhang, H., Zhang, Z., Liu, Z., Liu, S., Di, J., He, G., Zhao, L., Zhang, M., Su, T.: Hydrodynamics modeling of a piezoelectric micro-robotic fish with double caudal fins. J. Mech. Robot. 14(3), 034502 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4052973
Yousefi, M., Pishkenari, H.N.: Independent position control of two identical magnetic microrobots in a plane using rotating permanent magnets. J. Micro-Bio Robot. 17, 59–67 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12213-021-00143-w
Sayyaadi, H., Motekallem, A.: A new propulsion system for microswimmer robot and optimizing geometrical parameters using PSO algorithm. Int. J. Marit. Technol. 8, 35–45 (2017)
Ghanbari, A., Bahrami, M.: A novel swimming microrobot based on artificial cilia for biomedical applications. J. Intell. Rob. Syst. 63(3–4), 399–416 (2011)
Nguyen, K.T., Lee, H.-S., Kim, J., Choi, E., Park, J.-O., Kim, C.-S.: A composite electro-permanent magnetic actuator for microrobot manipulation. Int. J. Mech. Sci. 229, 107516 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijmecsci.2022.107516
Cao, Q., Fan, Q., Chen, Q., Liu, C., Han, X., Li, L.: Recent advances in manipulation of micro-and nano-objects with magnetic fields at small scales. Mater. Horiz. 7(3), 638–666 (2020)
Liu, Y.-L., Chen, D., Shang, P., Yin, D.-C.: A review of magnet systems for targeted drug delivery. J. Control. Release 302, 90–104 (2019)
Khalesi, R., Pishkenari, H.N., Vossoughi, G.: Independent control of multiple magnetic microrobots: design, dynamic modelling, and control. J. Micro-Bio Robot. 16(2), 215–224 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12213-020-00136-1
Das, S., Steager, E.B., Hsieh, M.A., Stebe, K.J., Kumar, V.: Experiments and open-loop control of multiple catalytic microrobots. J. Micro-Bio Robot. 14(1–2), 25–34 (2018)
Xu, T., Huang, C., Lai, Z., Wu, X.: Independent control strategy of multiple magnetic flexible millirobots for position control and path following. IEEE Trans. Robot. 38, 2875–2887 (2022)
Tung, H.-W., Maffioli, M., Frutiger, D.R., Sivaraman, K.M., Pané, S., Nelson, B.J.: Polymer-based wireless resonant magnetic microrobots. IEEE Trans. Rob. 30(1), 26–32 (2013)
Johnson, B.V., Chowdhury, S., Cappelleri, D.J.: Local magnetic field design and characterization for independent closed-loop control of multiple mobile microrobots. IEEE/ASME Trans. Mechatron. 25(2), 526–534 (2020)
Hsu, A., Zhao, H., Gaudreault, M., Foy, A.W., Pelrine, R.: Magnetic milli-robot swarm platform: a safety barrier certificate enabled, low-cost test bed. IEEE Robot. Autom. Lett. 5(2), 2913–2920 (2020)
Dong, X., Sitti, M.: Controlling two-dimensional collective formation and cooperative behavior of magnetic microrobot swarms. Int. J. Robot. Res. 39(5), 617–638 (2020)
Denasi, A., Misra, S.: Independent and leader–follower control for two magnetic micro-agents. IEEE Robot. Autom. Lett. 3(1), 218–225 (2017)
Wong, D., Steager, E.B., Kumar, V.: Independent control of identical magnetic robots in a plane. IEEE Robot. Autom. Lett. 1(1), 554–561 (2016)
Ongaro, F., Pane, S., Scheggi, S., Misra, S.: Design of an electromagnetic setup for independent three-dimensional control of pairs of identical and nonidentical microrobots. IEEE Trans. Rob. 35(1), 174–183 (2018)
Khalesi, R., Yousefi, M., Pishkenari, H.N., Vossoughi, G.: Robust independent and simultaneous position control of multiple magnetic microrobots by sliding mode controller. Mechatronics 84, 102776 (2022)
Salehizadeh, M., Diller, E.: Three-dimensional independent control of multiple magnetic microrobots via inter-agent forces. Int. J. Robot. Res. 39(12), 1377–1396 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1177/0278364920933655
Ryan, P., Diller, E.: Magnetic actuation for full dexterity microrobotic control using rotating permanent magnets. IEEE Trans. Rob. 33(6), 1398–1409 (2017)
Petruska, A.J., Abbott, J.J.: Optimal permanent-magnet geometries for dipole field approximation. IEEE Trans. Magn. 49(2), 811–819 (2012)
Happel, J., Brenner, H.: Low Reynolds number hydrodynamics: with special applications to particulate media. Springer Science & Business Media (2012)
Funding
The authors declare that no funds, grants, or other support were received during the preparation of this manuscript.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
Ruhollah Khalesi: Investigation, Algorithms, Simulation, Experimental Implementation, Writing -original draft, Visualization, Data curation.
Hossein Nejat Pishkenari (corresponding author): Conceptualization, Methodology, Writing- Review & Editing, Supervision, Project administration.
Gholamreza Vossoughi: Methodology, Review & Editing, Supervision.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Ethics Approval
We consciously assure that for the manuscript Simultaneous and independent control of multiple swimming magnetic microrobots by stabilizer microrobot the following is fulfilled:
1) This material is the authors’ own original work, which has not been previously published elsewhere.
2) The paper is not currently being considered for publication elsewhere.
3) The paper reflects the authors' own research and analysis in a truthful and complete manner.
4) The paper properly credits the meaningful contributions of co-authors and co-researchers.
5) The results are appropriately placed in the context of prior and existing research.
6) All sources used are properly disclosed (correct citation). Literally copying of text must be indicated as such by using quotation marks and giving proper reference.
7) All authors have been personally and actively involved in substantial work leading to the paper, and will take public responsibility for its content.
Consent to Participate
Not applicable.
Consent for Publication
We give our full permission for the publication.
Competing Interests
The authors have no relevant financial or non-financial interests to disclose.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Supplementary Information
Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.
Supplementary file1 (MP4 14.9 MB)
Rights and permissions
Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
About this article
Cite this article
Khalesi, R., Nejat Pishkenari, H. & Vossoughi, G. Simultaneous and Independent Control of Multiple Swimming Magnetic Microrobots by Stabilizer Microrobot. J Intell Robot Syst 110, 70 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10846-024-02098-z
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10846-024-02098-z