SMU researchers have created an electromagnetic coil system that can control microrobots without requiring continuous visual tracking of their position—a significant advancement that could enable microrobots to operate inside the body, within industrial pipes and other places that aren’t always visible with a camera.
“In real-world settings, imaging methods can be complex, slow, expensive, or unreliable,” said lead inventor Sangwon Lee, a postdoctoral researcher at the BAST Lab at SMU. “By reducing or eliminating the need for position tracking, the system can be simpler, more robust, and more practical for those hard-to-see environments, while still providing controlled motion.”
The instrument works by creating a uniform magnetic field gradient that applies consistent force to microrobots regardless of their location within the workspace, eliminating the need for constant position updates that have long been an obstacle for microrobot control systems, explained co-inventor MinJun Kim is the Robert C. Womack Chair Professor in the Lyle School of Engineering at SMU and principal investigator of the BAST Lab.
