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IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON MAGNETICS, VOL. 50, NO.

11, NOVEMBER 2014

8500704

Development of a Crawling Microrobot With High Steering


Capability and High Stability to Navigate Through
a Sharply Bent Tubular Environment
Jaekwang Nam, Gun Hee Jang, Seung Mun Jeon, and Kyun Choi
Precision Rotating Electromechanical Machine Laboratory, Department of Mechanical Engineering,
Hanyang University, Seoul 133-791, Korea
We develop a crawling microrobot with high stability and high steering capability to navigate through a sharply bent tubular
environment. The proposed microrobot can stably crawl forward and backward using the asymmetric friction force between a flexible
leg and a wall. Our design can effectively change the moving direction even in sharply bent tubular environments using both the
magnetic torque and the propulsive force generated by the crawling motion. The steering angle of the microrobot is simulated using
a mathematical model of cantilever beam. We then perform various experiments to verify the validity of the proposed microrobot.
Index Terms Crawling, friction, microrobot, steering, tubular environment.

I. I NTRODUCTION

ORONARY artery diseases have become one of the


major causes of deaths worldwide in modern society [1].
The conventional treatment for these diseases is utilizing
a catheter to make a hole in a clogged vessel or to
enlarge a narrow vessel. However, the conventional catheter
has poor controllability in narrow and sharply bent blood
vessels. As one possible option, microrobots manipulated by
a magnetic navigation system (MNS) have attracted great
attention for their simple miniaturized structure and wireless
maneuverability to treat coronary artery diseases [2].
Many researchers have investigated the various moving
mechanisms of microrobots by considering the fluidic environments of the blood vessels [3], [4]. Jeong et al. [3] investigated
a helical microrobot utilizing a rotating magnetic field and a
magnetic gradient to generate a drilling motion in a fluidic
environment. Guo et al. [4] proposed a microrobot with a
driving fin to realize a fish-like swimming locomotion by
oscillating a magnetic field in a fluidic environment. Although
these microrobots are simple and suitable for static fluidic
environment, they cannot generate a stable motion when the
various disturbing forces exist, such as the pulsatile flow in a
human blood vessel. Jeon et al. [5] suggested a methodology
to stabilize the pulsating motion of microrobots in a pulsatile
flow using the electromagnetic transfer function of an MNS,
but this system requires an additional sensor to measure the
velocity of the blood flow to accurately calculate the transfer
function. Nam et al. [6] proposed a multibody microrobot
crawling forward and backward along a tube that can stably
navigate through a pulsatile flow without the transfer function.
However, it has a poor steering capability that does not allow
movement in a sharply bent tubular environment. In addition,
the structure of their microrobot navigating through the tube
with a diameter of 20 mm is so large and complicated
Manuscript received March 7, 2014; accepted May 6, 2014. Date of current
version November 18, 2014. Corresponding author: G. H. Jang (e-mail:
ghjang@hanyang.ac.kr).
Color versions of one or more of the figures in this paper are available
online at http://ieeexplore.ieee.org.
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/TMAG.2014.2324589

Fig. 1. (a) Proposed crawling microrobot in a tube. (b) Motion 1 of the front
and rear bodies. (c) Motion 2 of the middle bodies.

considering a diameter of the coronary artery (34 mm).


We propose a crawling microrobot with a compact structure,
as shown in Fig. 1. The proposed microrobot has high stability and high steering capability, making navigation possible
through a sharply bent tubular environment. It can crawl
forward and backward stably using the asymmetric friction
force originating from an oscillating external magnetic field,
and it can effectively change the moving direction even in
sharply bent tubular environments using both the magnetic
torque and the propulsive force generated by a crawling
motion. The steering angle of the microrobot is simulated
using a mathematical model of cantilever beam. We then
perform various experiments to verify the validity of the
proposed microrobot.
II. C RAWLING AND S TEERING M OTIONS
OF THE M ICROROBOT
A. Structure of the Crawling Microrobot
Fig. 1 shows the proposed microrobot in a tubular environment. The microrobot consists of four bodies connected by a
connecting wire: one front body, two middle bodies, and one

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8500704

IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON MAGNETICS, VOL. 50, NO. 11, NOVEMBER 2014

Fig. 3. Turning motion of the crawling microrobot by the z- and y-directional


rotating magnetic field sequentially.
Fig. 2. Moving sequence of the crawling microrobot when the external
magnetic field sweeps in a counterclockwise direction.

rear body. Each body comprises two permanent magnets,


a rotating axle, flexible leg, and connecting joint. The front
and rear bodies of the microrobot have a y-directional rotating
axle, and the other middle bodies have an z-directional rotating
axle. The proposed microrobot can generate two types of
oscillating motions under an z-directional oscillating magnetic
field, Motion 1 and Motion 2, as shown in Fig. 1(b) and (c),
respectively. The front and rear bodies have Motion 1 in
which all the body components, including the connecting
joint and wire, can oscillate under an z-directional oscillating
magnetic field. The middle bodies have Motion 2 in which
only the magnets and legs can oscillate under the same
z-directional oscillating magnetic field. When the microrobot crawls forward, Motion 1 of the front body can make
the microrobot easily change the moving direction because
all the body components of the front body can follow the
applied magnetic field. Likewise, when the microrobot crawls
backward, Motion 1 of the rear body can change the moving
direction efficiently. On the other hand, Motion 2 of the middle
bodies only allows the magnets and legs to rotate with respect
to the rotating axle, which generates a large oscillating angle,
a large normal force, and a large friction force consequently,
so that Motion 2 provides high propulsive force. Combined
motion of Motions 1 and 2 can be effectively utilized to propel
the microrobot with high steering capability and high stability.
B. Crawling Motion of the Microrobot
The proposed microrobot can crawl forward and backward
using the asymmetric friction force between the leg and wall
of the tube generated by an oscillating external magnetic field.
When the external magnetic field rotates counterclockwise, as
shown in Fig. 2, each body rotates according to the magnetic
field. During this rotational motion, a positive friction force
is generated between the upper leg and the wall, while a
negative friction force is generated between the lower leg and
the wall. Since the positive friction force is greater than the
negative friction force due to its oblique contact angle [7],
the net positive friction force can make the microrobot crawl
forward. Similarly, an external rotating magnetic field in
the clockwise direction makes the microrobot crawl forward.
Repeated rotating motions by the oscillating magnetic field
allow the microrobot to continuously crawl forward. Because
the legs are in contact with the wall, this moving mechanism
allows the microrobot to resist against disturbing forces, such
as gravitational or drag force, thereby providing high stability.

Fig. 4.

Steering motion of the crawling microrobot in a bent tube.

For the backward crawling motion, the rotating magnetic field


with the sequential application of the z- and y-directional
rotating magnetic field, as shown in Fig. 3, can make the
turning motion of the microrobot, which rotates each body
of the microrobot by 180.
The net torque applied to the microrobot during the moving
motion can be expressed as follows [6]:
Tnet = Te Tr

(1)

where Tnet , Te , and Tr are the net torque, magnetic torque


by the external magnetic field, and resistive torque generated
by the asymmetric friction force and drag force, respectively.
We assume that the magnetic torque between the bodies does
not affect the net torque of the microrobot, since the distances
between the bodies are relatively far. Assuming that the
microrobot is placed along an x-directional tube, the required
magnetic torque to generate the x-directional crawling motion
of the microrobot can be expressed as follows [6]:
(2)
Te = 0 m He
T
He = H0 [ cos e sin e 0 ] and e = 0 sin (2 f t) (3)
where 0 , m, and He are the permeability of the free space,
the magnetic moment of the body, and the external magnetic
intensity, respectively. In addition, H0 , 0 , and f are the
amplitude, oscillating angle, and oscillating frequency of the
oscillating magnetic intensity, respectively. Using (2), (3), and
the Euler angle, the microrobot can be manipulated in a 3-D
tubular environment [6]. In this case, the moving speed of the
microrobot varies with H0, 0 , and f [6].
C. Steering Motion of the Microrobot
When the microrobot crawls through a bent tubular environment, it can change the moving direction using the high
steering motion of the front or rear body. Fig. 4 shows the
steering motion of the microrobot in a bent tube. To pass

NAM et al.: DEVELOPMENT OF A CRAWLING MICROROBOT

8500704

through the bent tube, the front body of the microrobot should
be first steered by the magnetic torque (Te ) generated by the
rotating magnetic field. In addition, the propulsive force by the
crawling motion can help the steering motion of the front body.
The propulsive force pushes the front body along the bent tube,
and the normal force between the right leg of the front body
and the wall of the tube (Fx2 ) becomes larger than the normal
force between the left leg of the front body and the wall of
the tube (Fx1 ). Therefore, summation of the normal forces
and the magnetic torque makes the effective steering motion
of the front body. Since the propulsive (crawling) forces and
the rotating torque generate the steering motion together, this
mechanism is especially effective when the microrobot move
along sharply bent tubes. The steering angle of the front body
(s ) can be expressed as follows:
s = i + t

(4)

where i and t are the tilting angle of the middle body with
respect to the x-axis and the tilting angle of the front body
with respect to the x-axis, where x is the local coordinate of
x rotated by i . To calculate t , we assume a load condition
where the connecting wire generates deflection of the uniform
cross-sectional cantilever beam with a concentrated load and
torque at the free end. With this assumption, the vertical
deflection of the connecting wire (y) with respect to the x-axis
can be approximately modeled as the following second-order
differential equation with two boundary conditions [8]:
M
d2 y
=
2
dx
EI
y|x=0


d y 
= 0,
=0
d x x=0

Fig. 5. (a) Experimental setup for the proposed crawling microrobot and
(b) MNS.

Fig. 6. (a) Main design variables of the crawling microrobot. (b) Components
of the crawling microrobot sequentially: flexible leg of the front and rear
bodies, flexible leg of the middle body, connecting wire, connecting
joint, rotating axle, and permanent magnet. (c) Prototyped crawling
microrobot.
TABLE I
M AIN D ESIGN VARIABLES OF THE P ROTOTYPED
C RAWLING M ICROROBOT

(5)
(6)

where EI and M are the bending rigidity of the connecting


wire and the bending moment, respectively. We consider the
magnetic torque, normal force, and friction force of the front
body to determine M as follows:
M = Te + T f

(7)

T f = (yl y)((Fx1 + Fx2 ) cos i (Fy1 + Fy2 ) sin i )


(l x)((Fx1 + Fx2 ) sin i + (Fy1 + Fy2 ) cos i ) (8)
where Te , Fx1 , Fx2 , Fy1 , Fy2 , l, and yl are the magnetic torque
of the front body, normal and friction forces at the left and
right legs of the front body, length of the connecting wire,
and y-directional deflection of the connecting wire at the free
end, respectively. In general, T f and i cannot be precisely
calculated or measured due to the complex mechanisms of
the bending motion of the legs. In the case where the front
body can freely rotate without contacting the wall, the steering
angle generated by the magnetic torque (sm ) can be calculated
by assuming that T f and i are equal to zero. Considering
that d y/d x is approximately equal to t , sm can be expressed
using (2) and (4)(8) as follows:

Te x 
m
(9)
s =
EI x=l


(10)
Te = 0 m He sin e sm .

Using (9) and (10), the steering angle can be calculated in


terms of the applied angle (e ) and intensity (He ) of the
external magnetic field with respect to the x-axis.
III. R ESULTS AND D ISCUSSION
We constructed an experimental setup to verify the validity
of the proposed microrobot, as shown in Fig. 5. The MNS
can generate a 3-D uniform magnetic field with a maximum
magnitude of 14 mT using three orthogonal pairs of coils:
1) the Helmholtz coil; 2) y-directional uniform saddle coil; and
3) z-directional uniform saddle coil [9], [10]. During the experiment, we can visually track and control the microrobot with
the biplane cameras, joystick controller, and control panel.
The proposed microrobot was prototyped using 3-D printing
technology with the specifications in Fig. 6 and Table I.

8500704

IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON MAGNETICS, VOL. 50, NO. 11, NOVEMBER 2014

direction in the bifurcated region of point (1), and could


move through the sharply bent region of point (3). During
the experiment, the microrobot was able to stably move with
the various oscillating speed and angles with a range of
115 Hz ( f ) and 3090 (0 ), respectively.
IV. C ONCLUSION

Fig. 7. (a) Steering motion of the crawling microrobot in three different


cases. (b) Measured and calculated steering angles of the crawling microrobot
according to the angle of the external magnetic field.

Our research developed a crawling microrobot with high


steering capability and high stability to navigate through a
sharply bent tubular environment. The steering motion of
the microrobot was modeled by a mathematical model of a
cantilever beam, and we calculated the steering angle of
the microrobot. We also examined the steering capability of
the prototyped microrobot for several cases. Future works
will further incorporate miniaturization, drug releasing, and
stent installation of the proposed microrobot to treat human
coronary artery diseases.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT

Fig. 8. Crawling microrobot in a complex tube with a diameter of 6 mm.


The microrobot moved sequentially according to the marked number.

We observed the prototyped microrobot moved through a tube


with a diameter of 68 mm, which is little larger than a
diameter of the coronary artery (34 mm).
We first examined the steering capability of the microrobot
using the external magnetic field with a magnitude of 14 mT.
Fig. 7 shows three cases of the steering motions of the
microrobot according to the applied angles of the external
magnetic field. Case 1 shows the steering motion under the
condition that the front body can move freely, but the other
bodies are fixed along the y-axis (T f = 0 and i = 0). The
measured s was increased up to 40.13 with the increase of
e , and it matches well with the calculated sm of 42.50
from (9) and (10). Case 2 shows the steering motion under
the condition that the front body can move freely, but the
other bodies are in the tube with a diameter of 6 mm (i = 0
and T f = 0). In case 2, the measured steering angle was
increased up to 54.24 with the increase of e . Case 3 shows
the steering motion in which the front body tries to change
the moving direction into 90 bent tube with a diameter of
6 mm (i = 0 and T f = 0). In case 3, the microrobot can
crawl through a 90 bent tube when e is over 70 because
the propulsive force by the crawling motion helps the steering
motion of the front body.
We also demonstrated the moving ability of the microrobot
in a complex watery tubular environment with various bent
angles and bifurcated regions, as shown in Fig. 8. Using the
steering motion, the microrobot could select its moving

This work was supported by the National Research


Foundation of Korea through the Ministry of Education,
Science and Technology, Korean Government, under Grant
2012R1A2A1A01.
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