Small Scale Robotics From Nano To Millimeter Sized Robotic Systems And Applications

This book contains selected contributions from some of the most renowned researchers in the field of small-scale robotics, based in large part on invited presentations from the workshop “The Different Sizes of Small-Scale Robotics: from Nano-, to Millimeter-Sized Robotic Systems and Applications,” which was held in conjunction with the conjunction with the International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA 2013), in May 2013 in Karlsruhe, Germany. With many potential applications in areas such as medicine, manufacturing or search and rescue, small-scale robotics represent a new emerging frontier in robotics research. The aim of this book is to provide an insight to ongoing research and future directions in this novel, continuously evolving field, which lies at the intersection of engineering, computer science, material science and biology.

Is Artificial Intelligence qualitatively different from other means of economizing the use of labor? Are we on the edge of a jobless society? If yes, are we ready for it? These are a few of the questions discussed in this collection of academic works. This book traces a brief history of the concept of technological unemployment; proposes a short-term scenario analysis concerning the relations between automation, education, and unemployment; analyzes the most recent literature on social robotics; examines the possible futures generated by the development of intelligent machines; shows the relation between automation and unemployment in an Italian case study; considers the impact if machines become effective pursuers of knowledge or even conscious; and addresses the role of serendipity in the development of science and technology.

This book gathers a selection of papers presented at ROBOT 2019 – the Fourth Iberian Robotics Conference, held in Porto, Portugal, on November 20th–22nd, 2019. ROBOT 2019 is part of a series of conferences jointly organized by the SPR – Sociedade Portuguesa de Robótica (Portuguese Society for Robotics) and SEIDROB – Sociedad Española para la Investigación y Desarrollo en Robótica (Spanish Society for Research and Development in Robotics). ROBOT 2019 built upon several previous successful events, including three biannual workshops and the three previous installments of the Iberian Robotics Conference, and chiefly focused on presenting the latest findings and applications in robotics from the Iberian Peninsula, although the event was also open to research and researchers from other countries. The event featured five plenary talks on state-of-the-art topics and 16 special sessions, plus a main/general robotics track. In total, after a stringent review process, 112 high-quality papers written by authors from 24 countries were selected for publication.

This book highlights electromagnetic actuation (EMA) and sensing systems for a broad range of applications including targeted drug delivery, drug-release-rate control, catheterization, intravitreal needleless injections, wireless magnetic capsule endoscopy, and micromanipulations. It also reviews the state-of-the-art magnetic actuation and sensing technologies with remotely controlled targets used in biomedicine.

The futuristic vision of nanorobots performing various tasks not easily achieved by macroscopic machines has inspired the development of micron-sized swimmers and propellers that can be navigated with high precision at very small length scales. This thesis focuses on a particular class of such devices, magnetic helical particles, which are propelled using homogeneous rotating magnetic fields. I describe an optimized fabrication process based on the physical vapor deposition technique Glancing Angle Deposition, which allows the production of uniform colloids with complex shapes in very high yields. This process is extended to obtain magnetic helices with diameters below 100 nm. The resulting particles’ propulsion behavior was observed experimentally, and compared with theoretical models. Furthermore two different strategies are examined for navigating not only simple Newtonian fluids, but also more complex biological fluids. In the first case, propulsion in hyaluronic acid is achieved by tuning the propellers’ diameter to a size on the order of the medium’s pore size. For the penetration of gastric mucin gels, a microorganism’s propulsion strategy is mimicked, which relies on enzymatically changing the rheological properties of the local environment. These results illustrate the application of biomimetic locomotion tactics to artificial swimmers.

This is the first book providing overview of magnetism in curved geometries, highlighting numerous peculiarities emerging from geometrically curved magnetic objects such as curved wires, shells, as well as complex three-dimensional structures. Extending planar two-dimensional structures into the three-dimensional space has become a general trend in multiple disciplines across electronics, photonics, plasmonics and magnetics. This approach provides the means to modify conventional and even launch novel functionalities by tailoring the local curvature of an object. The book covers the theory of curvilinear micromagnetism as well as experimental studies of geometrically curved magnets including both fabrication and characterization. With its coverage of fundamental aspects, together with exploration of numerous applications across magnonics, bio-engineering, soft robotics and shapeable magnetoelectronics, this edited collection is ideal for all scientists in academia and industry seeking an overview and wishing to keep abreast of advances in the novel field of curvilinear micromagnetism. It provides easy but comprehensive access to the field for newcomers, and can be used for graduate-level courses on this subject.

Our world is composed of systems within systems—the machines we build, the information we share, the organizations we form, and elements of nature that surround us. Therefore, nearly every field of study and practice embodies behaviors stemming from system dynamics. Yet the study of systems has remained somewhat fragmented based on philosophies, methodologies, and intentions. Many methodologies for analyzing complex systems extend far beyond the traditional framework of deduction evaluation and may, thus, appear mysterious to the uninitiated. This book seeks to dispel the mysteries of systems analysis by holistically explaining the philosophies, methodologies, and intentions in the context of understanding how all types of systems in our world form and how these systems break. This presentation is made at the level of conceptual understanding, with plenty of figures but no mathematical formulas, for the beginning student and interested readers new to studying systems. Through the conceptual understanding provided, students are given a powerful capability to see the hidden behaviors and unexplained consequences in the world around us.

This book formulates and consolidates a coherent understanding of how harnessing the dynamics of bistable structures may enhance the technical fields of vibration control, energy harvesting, and sensing. Theoretical rigor and practical experimental insights are provided in numerous case studies. The three fields have received significant research interest in recent years, particularly in regards to the advantageous exploitation of nonlinearities. Harnessing the dynamics of bistable structures--that is, systems with two configurations of static equilibria--is a popular subset of the recent efforts. This book provides a timely consolidation of the advancements that are relevant to a large body of active researchers and engineers in these areas of understanding and leveraging nonlinearities for engineering applications. Coverage includes: Provides a one-source reference on how bistable system dynamics may enhance the aims of vibration control, energy harvesting, and sensing with a breadth of case studies Includes details for comprehensive methods of analysis, numerical simulation, and experimentation that are widely useful in the assessment of the dynamics of bistable structures Details approaches to evaluate, by analytical and numerical analysis and experiment, the influences of harmonic and random excitations, multiple degrees-of-freedom, and electromechanical coupling towards tailoring the underlying bistable system dynamics Establishes how intelligently utilizing bistability could enable technology advances that would be useful in various industries, such as automotive engineering, aerospace systems, microsystems and microelectronics, and manufacturing