Manipulation and Control of Microrobots Using A Novel Permanent Magnet Stage

Controlling microrobots in the past have required the used of heavy coil systems and large power supply units, in this paper we show that a strong permanent magnet is sufficient for the control scheme. The development of a controlling stage was deemed to be a priority and allowed for the manipulation of microrobots, otherwise known as alginate particles or artificial cells, in the xy-plane. We show that the permanent magnet stage can manipulation both single microrobots and swarms. The permanent magnet stage, has the dimensions of 22.86 X 35.56 cm(2), by 15.26 cm in height. This allows for a permanent magnet to move in the xy-plane a total area of 12 x 24 cm(2). Additionally, the permanent magnet to be interchangeable introduces the possibility to investigate different type of magnetic fields. Our experiments were performed using a NdFeB, Grade N52 permanent magnet which provides a maximum magnet flied of 14.8 T.