Title :
Assembly and disassembly of magnetic mobile micro-robots towards deterministic 2-D reconfigurable micro-systems
Author :
Pawashe, Chytra ; Diller, Eric ; Floyd, Steven ; Sitti, Metin
Author_Institution :
Dept. of Mech. Eng., Carnegie Mellon Univ., Pittsburgh, PA, USA
Abstract :
A primary challenge in the field of reconfigurable robotics is scaling down the size of individual robotic modules. We present a novel set of permanent magnet modules that are under 1 mm in all dimensions, called Mag-μMods, for use in a reconfigurable micro-system. The modules are actuated by oscillating external magnetic fields of several mT in strength, and are capable of locomoting on a 2-D surface. Multiple modules are controlled using an electrostatic anchoring surface, which selectively prevents specific modules from being driven by the external field, while allowing others to move freely. We model the processes of both assembling and disassembling two modules by analyzing the forces the modules experience, and experimentally verify the accuracy of the models. For disassembly, we employ electrostatic anchoring and externally applied magnetic torques to successfully separate the modules.
Keywords :
magnetic fields; microrobots; mobile robots; oscillations; permanent magnets; torque; 2D surface; deterministic 2D reconfigurable microsystem; electrostatic anchoring surface; external magnetic field oscillation; magnetic mobile microrobot assembly; magnetic mobile microrobot disassembly; magnetic torque; permanent magnet module; reconfigurable robotic module; Assembly; Coils; Electrostatics; Force; Friction; Magnetic cores; Magnetic separation;
Conference_Titel :
Robotics and Automation (ICRA), 2011 IEEE International Conference on
Conference_Location :
Shanghai
Print_ISBN :
978-1-61284-386-5
DOI :
10.1109/ICRA.2011.5979801