T22.5 - Wireless Actuation of Magnetic Robots with a Modular 60 mT 3-D Helmholtz Coil System

Wednesday, March 19, 2025

2:50 PM – 3:10 PM ET

Location: Level Three, A315

Technical Lecture Presenter(s)

Konstantinos Manos (he/him/his)

Princeton University

Presentation Paper

Co-Author(s)

YR

Yifan Rao

Princeton University
TZ

Tuo Zhao

Princeton University
KL

Kevin Liu

Princeton University
GP

Glaucio H. Paulino

Princeton University
Minjie Chen, PhD

Princeton University
CN

Calvin Nguyen

Princeton University
EC

Eric Chen

Princeton University
Daniel Zhou, MA (he/him/his)

PRINCETON UNIVERSITY

This paper presents the modeling and design of a three-dimensional (3-D) Helmholtz coil system for wireless control of magnetically actuated robots. Instead of using moving permanent magnets to generate the external magnetic field needed for magnetic actuation, driving a set of stationary Helmholtz coils with power electronics offers enhanced control flexibility and precision through active feedback. A modular drive is developed to operate the custom pulsed 15~kW 60~mT 3-D Helmholtz coil setup. A method for modeling the generated magnetic field is developed to enable the precise motion control of untethered robots. The prototype system is verified by precisely actuating a magnetized cubic robot.