Being able to manipulate and characterize matter on a miniaturized scale opens great possibilities for making scientific discoveries and creating practically useful devices. Since Dr. Richard Feynman’s famous talk on nanotechnology over 60 years ago, we now stand at a pivotal moment to realize science-fiction-type ideas in the talk, such as “swallowing the surgeon” for medical treatment inside the body. As we witness the development of precision mechatonic systems and nanotechnology, it is the right time to make use of nanotechnology to create miniaturized devices that benefits human beings. In this project, we aspire to develop platform technology for systems of ingestible robots that can move, sense, analyze and treat disease from within the human body.
Such an endeavor will unequivocally require an interdisciplinary approach. In the path, we have developed capsule robots that can measure temperature, pressure, and impedance within the human body, which helps to determine gastrointestinal activities such as food passage during the digestion process. It would be ideal to develop additional sensing modalities and add drug delivery capabilities for local measurement and treatment. Moreover, we are also interested in developing additional supporting technology such as magnetic navigation, wireless charging, smart retention structure and testing equipment.
Requirement: Junior or senior major in mechanical engineering or electrical and computer engineering (highly motivated Sophomore students with relevant experiences also possible)
Undergraduate Research Assistants working on this project are expected to be interested in mechatronic system development involving system modeling, control algorithm, embedded system programing, mechanical/circuit design, manufacturing, etc. Experience with Solidworks, LabVIEW, circuit design software, Matlab, and instructional material development is a plus. In person work is required for access to the hardware.
Students are expected to work closely with graduate students leading the project for 6 - 10 hours per week during the Fall semester for pay or for credit with opportunities to continue in the future. Given the longer-term nature of the project, preference will be given to students who can commit to multiple terms.
Duties
This position will involve circuit design for capsule robot, development of magnetic actuation testbed, programming of a Kuka robot. Specific duties may include but not limited to the following:
1) PCB design, prototyping and testing
2) Electromagnetic actuator design and simulation
3) Testbed CAD design and machining
4) Robot programming
5) Capsule robot system integration
