Collective Planar Actuation of Miniature Magnetic Robots Towards Individual Robot Operation

Magnetic actuation technique for the collective operation of untethered miniature robots by uniform control input is presented. The technique allows us to actuate multiple robots simultaneously and enables us to prohibit the actuation of selected ones while others are still operated. Non-actuation of selected robots is achieved in the area, where the global magnetic field generated by coplanar coils is locally disrupted. The position of the area in the space can be changed with a discrete step and it allows us to operate multiple robots at the same time dynamically. The proposed technique is studied by numerical simulations and experimental verification on a laboratory prototype of the system.