Programmable control of soft magnetic helical microrobot from microfluidics

IF 7.6 2区材料科学 Q1 MATERIALS SCIENCE, MULTIDISCIPLINARY

Materials & Design Pub Date : 2025-02-18 DOI:10.1016/j.matdes.2025.113707

Yikai Wu , Can Wang , Wenhui Zhang , Jiahui Yang, Hainiu Zhu, Linlin Xia, Jie Wang

{"title":"Programmable control of soft magnetic helical microrobot from microfluidics","authors":"Yikai Wu , Can Wang , Wenhui Zhang , Jiahui Yang, Hainiu Zhu, Linlin Xia, Jie Wang","doi":"10.1016/j.matdes.2025.113707","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Soft magnetic helical microrobots (SMHMs) have received increasing attention due to their body compliance, high controllability, and rotation-based motion. Their accurate and programmable control is expected for complex environments facing practical applications. We fabricate the SMHM easily through microfluidics, and build a Helmholtz coil system with a user-friendly graphical user interface (GUI) to programmatically control them. By controlling the currents of three-dimensional Helmholtz coil, the rotation speed and direction of the uniform rotating magnetic field generated by the coil can be customized. Besides, SMHMs can rotate in the direction perpendicular to the rotation axis of the magnetic field, and their speeds increase with the magnetic rotation frequency. Thus, the accurate manipulation of the SMHMs’ speed and direction will be achieved just by regulating the coil current. Further, a GUI combined with path planning algorithm is developed to control SMHMs by programming the currents, planning the optimal path for SMHMs, and monitoring their real-time motions. Even non-specialists could easily manipulate SMHMS to move along the desired path and realize the controllable obstacle avoidance movement, which is programmable, user-friendly, and potential for complex scenarios. These characteristics may enable more accurate, effective, and safe work of SMHMs in various fields.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":383,"journal":{"name":"Materials & Design","volume":"252 ","pages":"Article 113707"},"PeriodicalIF":7.6000,"publicationDate":"2025-02-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Materials & Design","FirstCategoryId":"88","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264127525001273","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"MATERIALS SCIENCE, MULTIDISCIPLINARY","Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Abstract

Soft magnetic helical microrobots (SMHMs) have received increasing attention due to their body compliance, high controllability, and rotation-based motion. Their accurate and programmable control is expected for complex environments facing practical applications. We fabricate the SMHM easily through microfluidics, and build a Helmholtz coil system with a user-friendly graphical user interface (GUI) to programmatically control them. By controlling the currents of three-dimensional Helmholtz coil, the rotation speed and direction of the uniform rotating magnetic field generated by the coil can be customized. Besides, SMHMs can rotate in the direction perpendicular to the rotation axis of the magnetic field, and their speeds increase with the magnetic rotation frequency. Thus, the accurate manipulation of the SMHMs’ speed and direction will be achieved just by regulating the coil current. Further, a GUI combined with path planning algorithm is developed to control SMHMs by programming the currents, planning the optimal path for SMHMs, and monitoring their real-time motions. Even non-specialists could easily manipulate SMHMS to move along the desired path and realize the controllable obstacle avoidance movement, which is programmable, user-friendly, and potential for complex scenarios. These characteristics may enable more accurate, effective, and safe work of SMHMs in various fields.

Abstract Image

查看原文本刊更多论文

求助全文

约1分钟内获得全文求助全文

来源期刊

Materials & Design Engineering-Mechanical Engineering

CiteScore

14.30

自引率

7.10%

发文量

1028

审稿时长

85 days

期刊介绍： Materials and Design is a multi-disciplinary journal that publishes original research reports, review articles, and express communications. The journal focuses on studying the structure and properties of inorganic and organic materials, advancements in synthesis, processing, characterization, and testing, the design of materials and engineering systems, and their applications in technology. It aims to bring together various aspects of materials science, engineering, physics, and chemistry. The journal explores themes ranging from materials to design and aims to reveal the connections between natural and artificial materials, as well as experiment and modeling. Manuscripts submitted to Materials and Design should contain elements of discovery and surprise, as they often contribute new insights into the architecture and function of matter.