Parametric Study of an Asymmetrical Soft Millirobot in a Rotating in Magnetic Field

Disciplines

Applied Mechanics | Electromagnetics and Photonics | Electro-Mechanical Systems

Abstract (300 words maximum)

Untethered small scale robots have many applications in bioengineering fields, and recently we designed and characterized the types of motion of a millimeter scale, magnetoelastic robot within distinct frequency ranges of a controllable, non-uniform magnetic field in a 3-axis Helmholtz coil. The robot has constant width and height with length comprising of a magnetic polymer (head) and nonmagnetic polymer (tail) section, and its head section has been magnetized at an angle with the robot’s longitudinal and vertical axes to create magnetic torque for locomotion in the forward direction while submerged in water. This type of motion exhibits high controllability and speed, which is at a maximum when the rotational frequency of the robot and the magnetic field are in sync. In an effort to optimize the soft robot’s locomotion and define a relationship between these two frequencies, experiments are conducted to measure dependencies qualitatively and quantitatively on fabrication parameters, namely the aspect ratio of the head and tail section. These measurements are derived from image tracking data of the corkscrew locomotion of robots with varying aspect ratios, and they are captured from a position perpendicular to their planar trajectories over a range of rotating magnetic field frequencies. This study in conjunction with a similar one focused on the head section’s magnetization angle, will contribute to further optimization of the soft millirobot’s speed and controllability for modeling of the swimming behaviors of fish.

Academic department under which the project should be listed

SPCEET - Mechanical Engineering

Primary Investigator (PI) Name

Dal Hyung Kim

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Parametric Study of an Asymmetrical Soft Millirobot in a Rotating in Magnetic Field

Untethered small scale robots have many applications in bioengineering fields, and recently we designed and characterized the types of motion of a millimeter scale, magnetoelastic robot within distinct frequency ranges of a controllable, non-uniform magnetic field in a 3-axis Helmholtz coil. The robot has constant width and height with length comprising of a magnetic polymer (head) and nonmagnetic polymer (tail) section, and its head section has been magnetized at an angle with the robot’s longitudinal and vertical axes to create magnetic torque for locomotion in the forward direction while submerged in water. This type of motion exhibits high controllability and speed, which is at a maximum when the rotational frequency of the robot and the magnetic field are in sync. In an effort to optimize the soft robot’s locomotion and define a relationship between these two frequencies, experiments are conducted to measure dependencies qualitatively and quantitatively on fabrication parameters, namely the aspect ratio of the head and tail section. These measurements are derived from image tracking data of the corkscrew locomotion of robots with varying aspect ratios, and they are captured from a position perpendicular to their planar trajectories over a range of rotating magnetic field frequencies. This study in conjunction with a similar one focused on the head section’s magnetization angle, will contribute to further optimization of the soft millirobot’s speed and controllability for modeling of the swimming behaviors of fish.

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