3D Motion and Swarm Control of Magnetically Propelled Microrobots for in vivo Particulate Drug Delivery

该项目将演示使用旋转磁场来推动和引导磁性微游泳器用于医疗应用，如药物输送。与该领域之前的工作不同，该项目考虑了微游泳者群体而不是单个车辆，并允许具有非理想行为特征的流体，例如粘液。实验结果将使用可控合成生物流体进行验证。研究结果将指导未来微型机器人控制系统的发展，并朝着实际可控的磁性微游泳者的方向迈进。一个免费的推广项目将为K-12、本科生和研究生提供和培养一个独特的跨学科培训环境，开发引人注目的微游泳控制、药物输送和触觉设备。PI最近证明，当被磁场旋转时，非手性磁性刚性几何结构能够推进。本项目建立在该演示的基础上，通过在随机微分方程的设置中制定运动控制问题，以便为磁性微游泳者的三维运动和群体控制创建一个随机控制系统。微型游泳者的运动控制是通过磁控制和计算机视觉反馈来实现的。值得注意的是，个体微游泳者物理参数的变化将被用来解决流体环境中的不确定性。该方法将用于在异构2D和3D工作空间中为大量微游泳者的运动制定控制和协调方案，使用运动规划和控制框架来解决可控性和最优性等问题。该结果将在模拟生物环境的参数可控的非牛顿流体中进行实验验证。

This project will demonstrate the use of rotating magnetic fields to propel and steer magnetic microswimmers for medical applications such as drug delivery. Unlike previous work in this area, this project considers swarms of microswimmers instead of single vehicles, and allows fluids with non-ideal behavior characteristic of, for example, mucus. The results will be experimentally validated using a controllable synthetic biofluid. The results will guide future development of control systems for microrobotics, and advance towards practically controllable magnetic microswimmers in vivo. A complimentary outreach program will provide and cultivate a unique, interdisciplinary training environment for K-12, undergraduate and graduate students, exploiting eye-catching microswimmer control, drug delivery, and haptic devices.The PI has recently demonstrated that achiral magnetic rigid geometries are capable of propulsion when rotated by a magnetic field. This project builds upon that demonstration, by formulating the motion control problem in the setting of stochastic differential equations, in order to create a stochastic control system for 3D motion and swarm control of magnetic microswimmers. Motion control of microswimmers is accomplished with magnetic control and computer vision feedback. Notably, variations in the physical parameters of the individual microswimmers will be leveraged to address uncertainty in the fluid environment. The approach will be used to formulate control and coordination schemes for the motion of a large number of microswimmers in heterogeneous 2D and 3D workspaces, using motion planning and control frameworks that address issues such as controllability and optimality. The results will be experimentally validated in a non-Newtonian fluid with controllable parameters that simulates a biological environment.