Mobile robotic devices smaller than one millimeter could enable new directions in healthcare, biotechnology and manufacturing. Our focus in healthcare is on medical microrobots that can leverage minimally invasive interventional and targeted delivery strategies with high precision and repeatability by navigating and performing in hard-to-reach and delicate inner body sites, such as, the central nervous system, the circulatory system and the eye. Active navigation of highly concentrated therapeutic and diagnostic agents to the site of action could represent a state-of-the-art application of microrobots, considering the limited delivery and distribution efficiencies offered by the systemic routes and local diffusion. By this means, it is possible to minimize the effects of systemic toxicity and increase the overall efficacy of single-dose administration. Autonomous release of multiple types of payloads with programmable kinetics based on the environmental sensing of local cues, e.g., disease markers, in the living milieu could pave the way for microrobotic therapy and diagnosis in the form of an orderly executed, programmable operation. A conventional robot responds to the changes in its environment by means of its on-board sensors and computational capabilities. Achieving such capabilities at the smaller dimensions, where such computational capabilities do not exist; however, remains a major research question. In nature, microorganisms, such as slime molds and bacteria have evolved to use physical intelligence as the main route of making decisions in complex and evolving conditions. Accordingly, programmed physical and chemical properties of materials can enable a robust design route for making microrobotic systems with the capabilities of motion, sensing, and functioning in dynamic interaction with their local environment. Such goals require integrated design and engineering strategies, where powering, actuation, control, environmental sensing and medical functionality need to be considered altogether.
Biohybrid microrobots: Unicellular motile organisms, e.g. flagellated bacteria and algae, are physically integrated with a microrobot that can be used as on-board microactuators and microsensors that harness the biochemical energy in the microenvironment to power the mobility of the microrobot. We exploit the microorganisms that can achieve high propulsion speeds (tens of their body lengths per second), thereby providing high thrust power to the biohybrid microrobots. Integrated sensing and motility of microorganisms further enable steering using cues in the environment chemical and pH gradients.
3D-printed microrobots: Fabrication of microrobots presents unique challenges concerning design, fabrication process, and encoding operational capabilities. Conventional microfabrication techniques usually provide relatively simple geometric structures, such as tubes, spheres, and surfaces, with limited design flexibility and function. Integration of computer-aided design to microfabrication technologies has been a significant advancement to realize sophisticated 3D designs that could not be conceivable with the alternative microfabrication methods. To this end, we explore the potential of additive manufacturing processes for making microrobots. We put a special emphasis on making new materials with tailorable local 3D chemical properties that would enable on-board programmable functionalities, and hence novel design opportunities for diverse types of microrobots.
Reconfigurable and programmable self-assembly and collective behavior of magnetic microrobotic swarms: Collectives of microrobots working cooperatively could significantly enhance their functionalities in many applications such as micro-manufacturing and biomedical engineering. We are working on programmable and reconfigurable self-assembly and collective behavior of microrobots that could enable parallel and distributed massive tasks eventually in the living environment.
Hakan Ceylan, , I. Ceren Yasa, , Oncay Yasa, , Ahmet Fatih Tabak, , Joshua Giltinan, , Sitti, M.
3D-Printed Biodegradable Microswimmer for Drug Delivery and Targeted Cell Labeling
bioRxiv, pages: 379024, July 2018 (article)
Ugur Bozuyuk, , Oncay Yasa, , I. Ceren Yasa, , Hakan Ceylan, , Seda Kizilel, , Sitti, M.
Light-Triggered Drug Release from 3D-Printed Magnetic Chitosan Microswimmers
ACS Nano, 12, pages: 9617-9625, September 2018 (article)
Yasa, O., Erkoc, P., Alapan, Y., Sitti, M.
Microalga‐Powered Microswimmers toward Active Cargo Delivery
Advanced Materials, pages: 1804130, September 2018 (article)
Alapan, Y., Yasa, O., Schauer, O., Giltinan, J., Tabak, A. F., Sourjik, V., Sitti, M.
Soft erythrocyte-based bacterial microswimmers for cargo delivery
Science Robotics, 3(17):eaar4423, Science Robotics, April 2018 (article)
Amador, G. J., Tabak, A. F., Ren, Z., Alapan, Y., Yasa, O., Sitti, M.
Thermocapillary-driven fluid flow within microchannels
ArXiv e-prints, Febuary 2018 (article)
Sridhar, V., Park, B., Sitti, M.
Light‐Driven Janus Hollow Mesoporous TiO2–Au Microswimmers
Advanced Functional Materials, 28(5):1704902, January 2018 (article)
Dong, X., Sitti, M.
Planning spin-walking locomotion for automatic grasping of microobjects by an untethered magnetic microgripper
In 2017 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), pages: 6612-6618, 2017 (inproceedings)
Erin, O., Giltinan, J., Tsai, L., Sitti, M.
Design and actuation of a magnetic millirobot under a constant unidirectional magnetic field
In 2017 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), Proceedings 2017 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), pages: 3404-3410, IEEE, Piscataway, NJ, USA, IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), May 2017 (inproceedings)
Park, B., Zhuang, J., Yasa, O., Sitti, M.
Multifunctional Bacteria-Driven Microswimmers for Targeted Active Drug Delivery
ACS Nano, 11(9):8910-8923, September 2017, PMID: 28873304 (article)
Singh, A. V., Hosseinidoust, Z., Park, B., Yasa, O., Sitti, M.
Microemulsion-Based Soft Bacteria-Driven Microswimmers for Active Cargo Delivery
ACS Nano, 0(0):null, 2017, PMID: 28858477 (article)
Stanton, M. M., Park, B., Vilela, D., Bente, K., Faivre, D., Sitti, M., Sánchez, S.
Magnetotactic Bacteria Powered Biohybrids Target E. coli Biofilms
ACS Nano, 0(0):null, September 2017, PMID: 28933815 (article)
Wang, W., Giltinan, J., Zakharchenko, S., Sitti, M.
Dynamic and programmable self-assembly of micro-rafts at the air-water interface
Science Advances, 3(5):e1602522, American Association for the Advancement of Science, May 2017 (article)
Stanton, M. M., Park, B., Miguel-López, A., Ma, X., Sitti, M., Sánchez, S.
Biohybrid microtube swimmers driven by single captured bacteria
Small, 13(19), March 2017 (article)
Zhuang, J., Park, B., Sitti, M.
Propulsion and Chemotaxis in Bacteria-Driven Microswimmers
Advanced Science, 4(9):1700109, May 2017 (article)
Ceylan, H., Giltinan, J., Kozielski, K., Sitti, M.
Mobile microrobots for bioengineering applications
Lab on a Chip, 17(10):1705-1724, Royal Society of Chemistry, 2017 (article)
Mostaghaci, B., Yasa, O., Zhuang, J., Sitti, M.
Bioadhesive Bacterial Microswimmers for Targeted Drug Delivery in the Urinary and Gastrointestinal Tracts
Advanced Science, 4(6):1700058, May 2017 (article)
Ceylan, H., Yasa, I. C., Sitti, M.
3D Chemical Patterning of Micromaterials for Encoded Functionality
Advanced Materials, 2017 (article)
Hosseinidoust, Z., Mostaghaci, B., Yasa, O., Park, B., Singh, A. V., Sitti, M.
Bioengineered and biohybrid bacteria-based systems for drug delivery
Advanced Drug Delivery Reviews, 106, pages: 27-44, Elsevier, November 2016 (article)
Lum, G. Z., Ye, Z., Dong, X., Marvi, H., Erin, O., Hu, W., Sitti, M.
Shape-programmable magnetic soft matter
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 113(41):E6007–E6015, National Acad Sciences, May 2016 (article)
Singh, A. V., Sitti, M.
Bacteria-Driven Particles: Patterned and Specific Attachment of Bacteria on Biohybrid Bacteria-Driven Microswimmers (Adv. Healthcare Mater. 18/2016)
Advanced Healthcare Materials, 5(18):2306-2306, September 2016 (article)
Giltinan, J., Diller, E., Sitti, M.
Programmable assembly of heterogeneous microparts by an untethered mobile capillary microgripper
Lab on a Chip, 16(22):4445-4457, Royal Society of Chemistry, October 2016 (article)
Diller, E., Giltinan, J., Lum, G. Z., Ye, Z., Sitti, M.
Six-degree-of-freedom magnetic actuation for wireless microrobotics
The International Journal of Robotics Research, 35(1-3):114-128, SAGE Publications Sage UK: London, England, June 2016 (article)
Zhuang, J., Sitti, M.
Chemotaxis of bio-hybrid multiple bacteria-driven microswimmers
Scientific reports, 6, pages: 32135, Nature Publishing Group, March 2016 (article)
Zhang, J., Diller, E.
Millimeter-scale magnetic swimmers using elastomeric undulations
In 2015 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), 2015 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), pages: 1706-1711, September 2015 (inproceedings)
Diller, E., Sitti, M.
Untethered Magnetic Micromanipulation
In Micro-and Nanomanipulation Tools, 13, 10, Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, November 2015 (inbook)
Sitti, M., Ceylan, H., Hu, W., Giltinan, J., Turan, M., Yim, S., Diller, E.
Biomedical applications of untethered mobile milli/microrobots
Proceedings of the IEEE, 103(2):205-224, IEEE, March 2015 (article)
Chung, S. E., Dong, X., Sitti, M.
Three-dimensional heterogeneous assembly of coded microgels using an untethered mobile microgripper
Lab on a Chip, 15(7):1667-1676, Royal Society of Chemistry, January 2015 (article)
Zhuang, J., Carlsen, R. W., Sitti, M.
pH-taxis of biohybrid microsystems
Scientific reports, 5, Nature Publishing Group, June 2015 (article)
Carlsen, Rika Wright, Sitti, Metin
Bio-Hybrid Cell-Based Actuators for Microsystems
Small, 10(19):3831-3851, 2014 (article)
Diller, E. D., Giltinan, J., Lum, G. Z., Ye, Z., Sitti, M.
Six-Degrees-of-Freedom Remote Actuation of Magnetic Microrobots.
In Robotics: Science and Systems, 2014 (inproceedings)
Diller, E., Sitti, M.
Three-Dimensional Programmable Assembly by Untethered Magnetic Robotic Micro-Grippers
Advanced Functional Materials, 24, pages: 4397-4404, 2014 (article)
Giltinan, J., Diller, E., Mayda, C., Sitti, M.
Three-dimensional robotic manipulation and transport of micro-scale objects by a magnetically driven capillary micro-gripper
In Robotics and Automation (ICRA), 2014 IEEE International Conference on, pages: 2077-2082, 2014 (inproceedings)
Yim, S., Sitti, M.
SoftCubes: Stretchable and self-assembling three-dimensional soft modular matter
The International Journal of Robotics Research, 33(8):1083-1097, SAGE Publications Sage UK: London, England, 2014 (article)
Diller, E., Ye, Z., Giltinan, J., Sitti, M.
Addressing of Micro-robot Teams and Non-contact Micro-manipulation
In Small-Scale Robotics. From Nano-to-Millimeter-Sized Robotic Systems and Applications, pages: 28-38, Springer Berlin Heidelberg, 2014 (incollection)
Carlsen, R. W., Edwards, M. R., Zhuang, J., Pacoret, C., Sitti, M.
Magnetic steering control of multi-cellular bio-hybrid microswimmers
Lab on a Chip, 14(19):3850-3859, Royal Society of Chemistry, 2014 (article)
Diller, E., Zhuang, J., Zhan Lum, G., Edwards, M. R., Sitti, M.
Continuously distributed magnetization profile for millimeter-scale elastomeric undulatory swimming
Applied Physics Letters, 104(17):174101, AIP, 2014 (article)
Lum, G. Z., Diller, E., Sitti, M.
Structural optimization method towards synthesis of small scale flexure-based mobile grippers
In Robotics and Automation (ICRA), 2014 IEEE International Conference on, pages: 2339-2344, 2014 (inproceedings)
Zhuang, J., Wei, G., Carlsen, R. W., Edwards, M. R., Marculescu, R., Bogdan, P., Sitti, M.
Analytical modeling and experimental characterization of chemotaxis in serratia marcescens
Physical Review E, 89(5):052704, American Physical Society, 2014 (article)
Tasoglu, S, Diller, E, Guven, S, Sitti, M, Demirci, U
Robotic assembly of hydrogels for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine
In Journal of Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine, 8, pages: 181-182, 2014 (inproceedings)
Tasoglu, S, Diller, E, Guven, S, Sitti, M, Demirci, U
Untethered micro-robotic coding of three-dimensional material composition
Nature Communications, 5, pages: DOI-10, Nature Publishing Group, 2014 (article)
Ye, Z., Sitti, M.
Dynamic Trapping and Two-Dimensional Transport of Swimming Microorganisms Using a Rotating Magnetic Micro-Robot
Lab on a Chip, 14(13):2177-2182, Royal Society of Chemistry, 2014 (article)
Ye, Z., Edington, C., Russell, A. J., Sitti, M.
Versatile non-contact micro-manipulation method using rotational flows locally induced by magnetic microrobots
In Advanced Intelligent Mechatronics (AIM), 2014 IEEE/ASME International Conference on, pages: 26-31, 2014 (inproceedings)
Miyashita, S., Diller, E., Sitti, M.
Two-dimensional magnetic micro-module reconfigurations based on inter-modular interactions
The International Journal of Robotics Research, 32(5):591-613, SAGE Publications Sage UK: London, England, 2013 (article)
Diller, E., Zhang, N., Sitti, M.
Modular micro-robotic assembly through magnetic actuation and thermal bonding
Journal of Micro-Bio Robotics, 8(3-4):121-131, Springer Berlin Heidelberg, 2013 (article)
Diller, E., Giltinan, J., Sitti, M.
Independent control of multiple magnetic microrobots in three dimensions
The International Journal of Robotics Research, 32(5):614-631, SAGE Publications Sage UK: London, England, 2013 (article)
Edwards, M. R., Wright Carlsen, R., Sitti, M.
Near and far-wall effects on the three-dimensional motion of bacteria-driven microbeads
Applied Physics Letters, 102(14):143701, AIP, 2013 (article)
Diller, E., Zhang, N., Sitti, M.
Bonding methods for modular micro-robotic assemblies
In Robotics and Automation (ICRA), 2013 IEEE International Conference on, pages: 2588-2593, 2013 (inproceedings)
Diller, E., Sitti, M.
Micro-scale mobile robotics
Foundations and Trends in Robotics, 2(3):143-259, Now Publishers Incorporated, 2013 (article)
Pawashe, C., Floyd, S., Diller, E., Sitti, M.
Two-dimensional autonomous microparticle manipulation strategies for magnetic microrobots in fluidic environments
IEEE Transactions on Robotics, 28(2):467-477, IEEE, 2012 (article)
Kim, D., Liu, A., Diller, E., Sitti, M.
Chemotactic steering of bacteria propelled microbeads
Biomedical microdevices, 14(6):1009-1017, Springer US, 2012 (article)
Diller, E., Miyashita, S., Sitti, M.
Magnetic hysteresis for multi-state addressable magnetic microrobotic control
In Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), 2012 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on, pages: 2325-2331, 2012 (inproceedings)
Ye, Z., Diller, E., Sitti, M.
Micro-manipulation using rotational fluid flows induced by remote magnetic micro-manipulators
Journal of Applied Physics, 112(6):064912, AIP, 2012 (article)
Diller, E., Floyd, S., Pawashe, C., Sitti, M.
Control of multiple heterogeneous magnetic microrobots in two dimensions on nonspecialized surfaces
IEEE Transactions on Robotics, 28(1):172-182, IEEE, 2012 (article)
Diller, E., Miyashita, S., Sitti, M.
Remotely addressable magnetic composite micropumps
Rsc Advances, 2(9):3850-3856, Royal Society of Chemistry, 2012 (article)
Floyd, S., Diller, E., Pawashe, C., Sitti, M.
Control methodologies for a heterogeneous group of untethered magnetic micro-robots
The International Journal of Robotics Research, 30(13):1553-1565, SAGE Publications, 2011 (article)
Diller, E., Pawashe, C., Floyd, S., Sitti, M.
Assembly and disassembly of magnetic mobile micro-robots towards deterministic 2-D reconfigurable micro-systems
The International Journal of Robotics Research, 30(14):1667-1680, SAGE Publications Sage UK: London, England, 2011 (article)
Kim, Dongwook, Liu, Albert, Stitti, Metin
Chemotactic behavior and dynamics of bacteria propelled microbeads
In Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), 2011 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on, pages: 1674-1679, 2011 (inproceedings)
Singleton, J., Diller, E., Andersen, T., Regnier, S., Sitti, M.
Micro-scale propulsion using multiple flexible artificial flagella
In Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), 2011 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on, pages: 1687-1692, 2011 (inproceedings)
Diller, E., Floyd, S., Pawashe, C., Sitti, M.
Control of multiple heterogeneous magnetic micro-robots on non-specialized surfaces
In Robotics and Automation (ICRA), 2011 IEEE International Conference on, pages: 115-120, 2011 (inproceedings)
Diller, E., Ye, Z., Sitti, M.
Rotating magnetic micro-robots for versatile non-contact fluidic manipulation of micro-objects
In Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), 2011 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on, pages: 1291-1296, 2011 (inproceedings)
Arabagi, V., Behkam, B., Cheung, E., Sitti, M.
Modeling of stochastic motion of bacteria propelled spherical microbeads
Journal of Applied Physics, 109(11):114702, AIP, 2011 (article)
Floyd, S., Pawashe, C., Sitti, M.
Two-dimensional contact and noncontact micromanipulation in liquid using an untethered mobile magnetic microrobot
IEEE Transactions on Robotics, 25(6):1332-1342, IEEE, 2009 (article)
Floyd, S., Pawashe, C., Sitti, M.
Microparticle manipulation using multiple untethered magnetic micro-robots on an electrostatic surface
In Intelligent Robots and Systems, 2009. IROS 2009. IEEE/RSJ International Conference on, pages: 528-533, 2009 (inproceedings)
Pawashe, C., Floyd, S., Sitti, M.
Modeling and experimental characterization of an untethered magnetic micro-robot
The International Journal of Robotics Research, 28(8):1077-1094, Sage Publications, 2009 (article)
Pawashe, C., Floyd, S., Sitti, M.
Multiple magnetic microrobot control using electrostatic anchoring
Applied Physics Letters, 94(16):164108, AIP, 2009 (article)
Pawashe, C., Floyd, S., Sitti, M.
Dynamic modeling of stick slip motion in an untethered magnetic microrobot
Proceedings of Robotics: Science and Systems IV, Zurich, Switzerland, 2008 (article)
Floyd, S., Pawashe, C., Sitti, M.
An untethered magnetically actuated micro-robot capable of motion on arbitrary surfaces
In Robotics and Automation, 2008. ICRA 2008. IEEE International Conference on, pages: 419-424, 2008 (inproceedings)
Behkam, B., Sitti, M.
Bacterial flagella assisted propulsion of patterned latex particles: Effect of particle size
In Nanotechnology, 2007. IEEE-NANO 2007. 7th IEEE Conference on, pages: 723-727, 2007 (inproceedings)
Behkam, B., Sitti, M.
Towards hybrid swimming microrobots: bacteria assisted propulsion of polystyrene beads
In Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society, 2006. EMBS’06. 28th Annual International Conference of the IEEE, pages: 2421-2424, 2006 (inproceedings)
Behkam, B., Sitti, M.
Design methodology for biomimetic propulsion of miniature swimming robots
Trans.-ASME Journal of Dynamic Systems Measurement and Control, 128(1):36, ASME, 2006 (article)
Behkam, B., Sitti, M.
Modeling and testing of a biomimetic flagellar propulsion method for microscale biomedical swimming robots
In Proceedings of Advanced Intelligent Mechatronics Conference, pages: 37-42, 2005 (inproceedings)
Behkam, B., Sitti, M.
E. coli inspired propulsion for swimming microrobots
In ASME 2004 International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition, pages: 1037-1041, 2004 (inproceedings)
Edd, J., Payen, S., Rubinsky, B., Stoller, M. L., Sitti, M.
Biomimetic propulsion for a swimming surgical micro-robot
In Intelligent Robots and Systems, 2003.(IROS 2003). Proceedings. 2003 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on, 3, pages: 2583-2588, 2003 (inproceedings)