This paper investigates fundamental design, modeling, and control issues related to untethered biomedical microrobots guided inside the human body through external magnetic fields. Proposed areas of application for these microrobots include sensing, diagnosis, and surgical procedures in intraocular, cardiovascular, and inner-ear environments. A prototype microrobot and steering system are introduced. Fluid drag experiments performed on the prototype robot show that the 950 × 400 µm elliptical shape has a spherical equivalent diameter of 477 µm. Drag forces combined with saturation magnetization (5 × 10 5 A/m) of the prototype indicate that the required magnetic field gradients for application inside the vitreous humor and blood vessels are on the order of 0.7 T/m.
We present a visual feedback method for closed loop control of automated microassembly. A CAD model based multi-camera visual tracking system that is well suited for flexible automation and assembly of complex 3D geometries was developed. The system is capable of providing six degree-of-freedom pose feedback on the observed micro-components in real-time (30 Hz). Using CAD models of the observed objects, a complete description of the observed scene, including the effect of occlusions, is available and dependence on distinctive visual features such as fudicial marks is avoided.
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