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Modeling and Experimental Characterization of an Untethered Magnetic Micro-Robot

Equally contributing co-first authors Department of Mechanical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA, csp{at}andrew.cmu.edu

Steven Floyd

Equally contributing co-first authors Department of Mechanical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA, srfloyd{at}andrew.cmu.edu

Metin Sitti

Department of Mechanical Engineering and Robotics Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA, sitti{at}cmu.edu

Here we present the control, performance and modeling of an untethered electromagnetically actuated magnetic micro-robot. The microrobot, which is composed of neodymium—iron—boron with dimensions 250 µm 1 130 µm 1 10 µm , is actuated by a system of six macro-scale electromagnets. Periodically varying magnetic fields are used to impose magnetic torques, which induce stick—slip motion in the micro-robot. These magnetic forces and torques are incorporated into a comprehensive dynamic model, which captures the behavior of the micro-robot. By pivoting the micro-robot about an edge, non-planar obstacles with characteristic sizes comparable to the robot length can be surmounted. Actuation is demonstrated on several substrates with different surface properties, in a fluid environment, and in a vacuum. Observed micro-robot translation speeds can exceed 10 mm s^-1.

Key Words: micro/nano robots • design and control • dynamics simulation • micro mechanics

This version was published on August 1, 2009

The International Journal of Robotics Research, Vol. 28, No. 8, 1077-1094 (2009)
DOI: 10.1177/0278364909341413


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