Performance-Guided Rotating Magnetic Field Control in Large Workspaces With Reconfigurable Electromagnetic Actuation System

Remote-actuated magnetic robots, relying solely on the magnetic torque stemming from rotating magnetic fields, hold immense promise in biomedical applications. However, to precisely actuate magnetic robots in large workspaces, the efficient generation of isotropic rotating fields using electromagnetic actuation (EMA) systems presents an enduring challenge. This is because the choice of configuration of the EMA system is a major concern, particularly when considering collision avoidance between coils and the human body while ensuring isotropic actuation. In this study, we presented an analysis of the characteristics of various three-coil configurations by quantitatively evaluating field isotropy. Furthermore, we introduced a performance-guided optimization method to adjust coil configurations by optimizing designed evaluation metrics, aiming to generate rotating fields with isotropic characteristics in a target local region. Finally, we implemented a reconfigurable EMA and conducted extensive experiments to demonstrate the capability of our method and platform. The experimental results showcase the potential of our approach for advanced clinical applications.