An Optimized Magnetic Micro-Robotic System for Two-Dimensional Manipulation

Abstract

The mobile controllable microrobots have numerous applications in complex environments, ranging from simple manipulation to microscale biological substances operations (in vitro tasks) to targeted drug delivery (in vivo applications). Researchers have used a variety of actuation mechanisms to actuate the microrobots in different environments. Currently, magnetic actuation is being widely used in micro-robotics for motion control and manipulation of micro and Nano agents. Design and development of the magnetic actuation system with the optimal magnetic field is indispensable for magnetic micro-robotics. In this research, we investigated different design parameters of the magnetic actuator (coil), based on the established theories and available literature, and then proposed a suitable method to fabricate and optimize the electromagnetic actuation mechanism for the magnetic micro-robotic system. It has been suggested that the very precise planer and collinear arrangement of the coils are of utmost importance in order to generate an optimized magnetic field. Manipulation of Fe<inf>3</inf>O<inf>4</inf> microrobots shows the capability and robustness of the developed system.