nanobot
Superparamagnetic nanobot moved by magnetic field
As co-president of the University of Alberta Nanorobotics team, I led the robot creation with superparamagnetic ferrofluid consisting of iron oxide nanopartciles.
The robot moves in the presence of a magnetic field. The droplet size is determined by injection volume, our 500 µm droplet equates to 100 nL of ferrofluid. This droplet can be manipulated to move in directions along the x and y axis under a magnetic field . The magnetic field is formed by passing currents through four electromagnets. Arenas are microfabricated with silicon wafers, gold and photoresists.
Side Cross-section Diagram of Robot Design
Left: scanning electron microscope image of microassembly arena. Middle: microscope image of autonomous movement arena and robot. Right: nanoinjector for robot droplet creation.
We placed 3rd in the microassembly challenge at IEEE RAS Mobile Micro/Nanorobotics Competition 2013.