Mechanism and control of a spiral type microrobot

In this paper, in order to deal with the resistance caused by liquid medium in pipe or even in blood vessel condition, we design a spiral type of microrobot that can destroy the obstructions in pipe and continue to move forward. We propose the microrobot driven by an external alternating magnetic field to realize the wireless controllability capable of swimming and rotating motion. And then, we design the alternate magnetic field, the motion mechanism of rotating movement has been analyzed as well. By applying the alternate magnetic field, we carried out the experiments of rotation movement and moving motion in a pipe. The experimental results indicated that the rotating speed of 87rad/s and moving speed of 58mm/s forward, 16mm/s backward can be obtained via frequency of the input current. Additionally, it is demonstrated that the microrobot has a rapid response, and it can clear out dirt which is adhering to the inner wall of pipe. This microrobot will play an important role in both industrial and medical applications such as microsurgery.