Control of a Magnetized Spherical Particle Utilizing a Minimum Coil Set

Control of a small magnetized spherical particle in 2D space using a square arrangement of electromagnets is the focus of this work. The inspiration for this system is rooted in technologies and procedures being explored in the biomedical engineering community. A classical controller with and without feedforward is implemented in concert with a novel switching approach. The approach is to activate the minimum number of electromagnets at anytime to impart a force on the magnetic particle. The switching function to establish the minimal coil set is based on the first principle model of the resultant magnetic force produced by the coil fields. An experimental platform is developed to investigate the feasibility of the minimum coil set approach. A sample of the experimental results for motion of the particle along a desired trajectory in a fluid medium are presented and discussed. Further, the experimental results are compared with computer simulation results to get insights into the accuracy of the dynamic model.