Autonomous Collision-Free Navigation of Microvehicles in Complex and Dynamically Changing Environments

Abstract

Self-propelled micro- and nanoscale robots represent a rapidly emerging and fascinating robotics research area. However, designing autonomous and adaptive control systems for operating micro/nanorobotics in complex and dynamically changing environments, which is a highly demanding feature, is still an unmet challenge. Here we describe a smart microvehicle for precise autonomous navigation in complicated environments and traffic scenarios. The fully autonomous navigation system of the smart microvehicle is composed of a microscope-coupled CCD camera, an artificial intelligence planner, and a magnetic field generator. The microscope-coupled CCD camera provides real-time localization of the chemically powered Janus microsphere vehicle and environmental detection for path planning to generate optimal collision-free routes, while the moving direction of the microrobot toward a reference position is determined by the external electromagnetic torque. Real-time object detection offers adaptive path planning in response to dynamically changing environments. We demonstrate that the autonomous navigation system can guide the vehicle movement in complex patterns, in the presence of dynamically changing obstacles, and in complex biological environments. Such a navigation system for micro/nanoscale vehicles, relying on vision-based close-loop control and path planning, is highly promising for their autonomous operation in complex dynamic settings and unpredictable scenarios expected in a variety of realistic nanoscale scenarios.

Hybrid Nanovehicles: One Machine, Two Engines

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Self-Propelled Janus Microdimer Swimmers under a Rotating Magnetic Field

“…Micro-/nanoswimmers that can convert various types of energy into kinetic energy overcoming viscous drag forces and thermal fluctuations have demonstrated different tasks in various environments [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9]. Recent strides in nanotechnology have enabled researchers to develop micro-and nanorobot systems to perform great potential in the fields of drug delivery [10][11][12][13][14][15], biosensing [16,17], self-assembly [18][19][20], micro-manipulation [21][22][23], environmental detection and remediation [24][25][26][27][28] and super-resolution optical imaging [29,30]. However, rapid and accurate motion in low Reynolds number environments requires new specialized techniques.…”

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“…As magnetic devices can be miniaturized, the potential in medical applications is considerably high . In recent years, there has been considerable attention in this area, particularly, in in vivo microsurgery, biological monitoring, and drug delivery …”