RI: Medium: Collaborative Research: Mobile Microrobot Platform for Advanced Manufacturing Applications

本研究的目标是创建一个灵活的微尺度增材制造平台，利用一组不受约束的微尺度机器人和模块化、多功能构建块来创建智能微设备和结构。外部外加磁场通常用于单个磁性移动微型机器人的动力和驱动。然而，为了在一组微型机器人中实现单个机器人的不同行为，它们的设计或应用于每个微型机器人的磁控制信号必须有显著的变化。因此，本研究的知识价值在于利用mems制造的平面微线圈创建专门的磁势场产生基板的新方法以及相关的控制方法，从而实现对多个移动微型机器人的真正独立控制。因此，本课题的研究目标为：微线圈的设计与制造及相关的控制电子元件；移动磁微机器人群体的运动控制以及磁性微机器人及其模块化组件的设计与制造，基于具有各种材料特性和功能的专用微组件。这些目标的成功完成将产生一个变革性的移动微型机器人群平台，能够执行各种先进的增材制造任务。潜在的应用包括非常高密度的能量存储、高应变驱动、能量收集、非常低功耗的通信设备和集成传感器的复合结构。该项目的进一步广泛影响在于在工业界和学术界传播研究成果，以及从K-12到研究生水平的相关推广活动的教育议程。

The goal of this research is to create a flexible, micro-scale additive manufacturing platform utilizing a team of untethered micro-scale robots and modular, multifunctional building blocks to create smart micro-devices and structures. Externally applied magnetic fields are commonly used for the power and actuation of individual magnetic mobile microrobots. However, in order to achieve different behaviors from individual robots within a team of microrobots, there must be either significant variation in their design or in the magnetic control signals applied to each microrobot.The intellectual merit of this research, therefore, lies in the novel approach to create a specialized magnetic potential field generating substrate from MEMS-fabricated planar microcoils and the related control methodology to enable truly independent control of multiple mobile microrobots. Thus, the research objectives of the proposal are: the design and fabrication of the micro-coils and related control electronics; motion control for mobile magnetic microrobot swarms; and magnetic microrobot and modular component design and fabrication, based on specialized micro-components with various material properties and functions.Successful completion of the objectives will result in a transformative mobile microrobot swarm platform capable of executing various advanced additive manufacturing tasks. Potential applications include very high-density energy storage, high strain actuation, energy harvesting, very low power communications devices, and composite structures with integrated sensors. Further broader impacts of this project reside in disseminating the research output in industry and academia along with an educational agenda spanning related outreach activities from the K-12 through graduate levels.