Mobile Microrobotics (Intelligent Robotics and Autonomous Agents series)

Progress in micro- and nano-scale science and technology has created a demand for new microsystems for high-impact applications in healthcare, biotechnology, manufacturing, and mobile sensor networks. The new robotics field of microrobotics has emerged to extend our interactions and explorations to sub-millimeter scales. This is the first textbook on micron-scale mobile robotics, introducing the fundamentals of design, analysis, fabrication, and control, and drawing on case studies of existing approaches.

The book covers the scaling laws that can be used to determine the dominant forces and effects at the micron scale; models forces acting on microrobots, including surface forces, friction, and viscous drag; and describes such possible microfabrication techniques as photo-lithography, bulk micromachining, and deep reactive ion etching. It presents on-board and remote sensing methods, noting that remote sensors are currently more feasible; studies possible on-board microactuators; discusses self-propulsion methods that use self-generated local gradients and fields or biological cells in liquid environments; and describes remote microrobot actuation methods for use in limited spaces such as inside the human body. It covers possible on-board powering methods, indispensable in future medical and other applications; locomotion methods for robots on surfaces, in liquids, in air, and on fluid-air interfaces; and the challenges of microrobot localization and control, in particular multi-robot control methods for magnetic microrobots. Finally, the book addresses current and future applications, including noninvasive medical diagnosis and treatment, environmental remediation, and scientific tools.

微米和納米尺度科學和技術的進展，為醫療保健、生物技術、製造和移動感測網絡等高影響應用領域創造了對新型微系統的需求。微機器人學這一新興的機器人領域已經出現，以擴展我們在亞毫米尺度上的交互和探索。這是第一本關於微米尺度移動機器人學的教科書，介紹了設計、分析、製造和控制的基礎知識，並借鑒了現有方法的案例研究。

本書涵蓋了可用於確定微米尺度主要力量和效應的尺度定律；模擬作用於微機器人上的力量，包括表面力、摩擦力和黏滯阻力；並描述了可能的微製造技術，如光刻、批量微加工和深反應離子蝕刻。它介紹了機載和遠程感測方法，指出目前遠程感測更可行；研究了可能的機載微致動器；討論了使用自生成的局部梯度和場或液體環境中的生物細胞的自驅動方法；並描述了適用於有限空間（如人體內部）的遠程微機器人致動方法。它涵蓋了可能的機載供電方法，這在未來的醫療和其他應用中是不可或缺的；介紹了在表面、液體、空氣和流體-空氣界面上的機器人的運動方法；以及微機器人定位和控制的挑戰，特別是磁性微機器人的多機器人控制方法。最後，本書還討論了當前和未來的應用，包括非侵入性醫學診斷和治療、環境修復和科學工具。