Towards Model-Based Control of Achiral Microswimmers

In this paper, we introduce the three bead achiral microswimmers controlled wirelessly using magnetic fields with the ability to swim in bulk fluid. The achirality of the microswimmer introduces unknown handedness of the microswimmer. Here, we propose to use a combination of rotating and static magnetic fields to eliminate the uncertainty in swimming direction. Our experimental results demonstrated excellent capability of direction control as well as agile movements. From the experimentally collected data, we estimated a control-oriented two-wheeled robot model. Finally, we design feedback control for microswimmers based on the estimated kinematic model. In particular, we show that the feedback control law moves the microswimmer from any initial conditions to a target set of microswimmer’s position and angle.Copyright © 2014 by ASME