A Hybrid Magnetic Actuation System for Hybrid Microrobotic Targeted Delivery
Yuanbiao Ma, Shengming Luo, Bin Wang, Haoyu Zhang, Ji Lang, Zhiqiang Tang, Li Zhang, Qianqian WANG
AI summary
Problem
Existing magnetic actuation systems lack the flexibility to handle diverse microrobot forms and delivery stages, limiting their effectiveness in complex biological environments.
Approach
The authors developed an EPMA system that combines a spherical permanent magnet with four electromagnetic coils, mounted on a 6-DOF robotic arm, and uses Hall sensor ellipsoid calibration for real-time magnetic field orientation tracking.
Key results
- Real-time magnetic orientation measurement with under 3° error via automatic ellipsoid calibration
- Successful navigation of a single microrobot across four complex terrains at 0.5 Hz
- Reversible gathering and spreading of microswarms under static magnetic fields
- Targeted microswarm delivery against 52 mm/s fluid flow at 4 Hz rotation frequency
Why it matters
Provides a versatile, high-precision actuation platform that advances the clinical translation of magnetic microrobots for minimally invasive biomedical procedures.
Abstract
Magnetic microrobots hold great promise for biomedical applications. However, achieving flexible magnetic field adjustment with a magnetic actuation system (MAS) to actuate diverse microrobots remains a significant challenge. In this work, we propose an Electromagnetic–Permanent Magnet Actuation (EPMA) system that generates controllable magnetic field variations to enable microrobot actuation for diverse tasks, including microrobotic actuation, microswarm pattern transfor- mation and targeted delivery. Automatic ellipsoid calibration of the Hall sensors enables real-time magnetic field orientation measurement with an error under 3◦. Experimental results demonstrate the microrobot’s actuation performance in four distinct scenarios, with a rotation frequency of 0.5 Hz. Fur- thermore, by adjusting the dynamic magnetic field, we achieve microswarm pattern reconfiguration under static conditions as well as targeted delivery in fluidic environments at a flow speed of 52 mm/s and a rotation frequency of 4 Hz. This study presents a hybrid MAS for the microrobotic actuation in diverse environments by controllable dynamic magnetic fields.