Medical micro-robots are a long-proposed technology that aims to make treatment both safer and more effective for patients by allowing minimally invasive, controlled access to difficult-to-reach areas of the human body. These micro-robots show promise for applications such as targeted drug delivery and surgical procedures. One example of such micro-robots is an untethered magnetic robot (UMR), which can be guided magnetically through the human body to reach a target site.
This assignment aims to expand and improve upon existing control methods for this technology by designing and implementing a real-time teleoperation framework that allows the operator to manipulate the magnetic field used to guide the micro-robot using an input device. To achieve this, the magnetic field and its effects on the UMR are first modelled to establish a control framework. Then, a control software application is developed that allows the user to remotely operate the system and receive feedback through a user interface in real time. Additionally, the third-party simulation software RoboDK is integrated in order to allow operators to train or test control without access to the physical system.
This presentation will focus on explaining the modelling choices for the magnetic field and its effects on the UMR, as well as the design decisions made for the control software, demonstrating how the software can be used by an operator, and covering the input testing performed on the system.