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An overview of multiple DoF magnetic actuated micro-robots

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Abstract

This paper reviews the state of the art of untethered, wirelessly actuated and controlled micro-robots. Research for such tools is being increasingly pursued to provide solutions for medical, biological and industrial applications. Indeed, due to their small size they offer both high velocity, and accessibility to tiny and clustered environments. These systems could be used for in vitro tasks on lab-on-chips in order to push and/or sort biological cells, or for in vivo tasks like minimally invasive surgery and could also be used in the micro-assembly of micro-components. However, there are many constraints to actuating, manufacturing and controlling micro-robots, such as the impracticability of on-board sensors and actuators, common hysteresis phenomena and nonlinear behavior in the environment, and the high susceptibility to slight variations in the atmosphere like tiny dust or humidity. In this work, the major challenges that must be addressed are reviewed and some of the best performing multiple DoF micro-robots sized from tens to hundreds μm are presented. The different magnetic micro-robot platforms are presented and compared. The actuation method as well as the control strategies are analyzed. The reviewed magnetic micro-robots highlight the ability of wireless actuation and show that high velocities can be reached. However, major issues on actuation and control must be overcome in order to perform complex micro-manipulation tasks.

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Notes

  1. Helmholtz coil pair: two identical circular magnetic coils placed symmetrically one on each side along a common axis, and separated by a distance equal to the radius of the coil. Each coil carries an equal electrical current flowing in the same direction.

  2. Maxwell coil pair: two identical circular magnetic coils placed symmetrically one on each side along a common axis, and separated by 1.73 times their radius. Each coil carries an equal electrical current flowing in the opposite direction.

  3. Respectively P \(_{\rm des}= \left[ x_{\rm des} \ y_{\rm des} \ z_{\rm des} \right]^{\text{T}}\) in 3D.

  4. ε x , ε y , ε z , ε θ , are respectively the error along x, y, z direction and the orientation.

  5. Proportional Integrator

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut des Système Intelligents et de Robotique (ISIR), Université Pierre et Marie Curie/CNRS UMR-7222, BC 173, 4 Place Jussieu, 75005, Paris, France

    Soukeyna Bouchebout, Jean-Ochin Abrahamians & Stéphane Régnier

  2. FEMTO-ST Institute, UFC, ENSMM, UTBM, CNRS UMR-6174, 24 rue Alain Savary, 25000, Besançon, France

    Aude Bolopion

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  1. Soukeyna Bouchebout
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  2. Aude Bolopion
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  3. Jean-Ochin Abrahamians
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  4. Stéphane Régnier
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Correspondence to Soukeyna Bouchebout.

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Bouchebout, S., Bolopion, A., Abrahamians, JO. et al. An overview of multiple DoF magnetic actuated micro-robots. J. Micro-Nano Mech. 7, 97–113 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12213-012-0048-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12213-012-0048-y

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