Non-contact manipulation for automated protein crystal harvesting using a rolling microrobot

Abstract

In this work, a visual control system for magnetically-driven, automated protein crystal harvesting is proposed. The system consists of a rod-shaped microrobot, a magnetic actuation system and a visual control system. The rolling motion of the microrobot on a surface is induced by a rotating magnetic field. As the robot is submerged in a low Reynolds number liquid this motion creates a vortex above the robot which enables the non-contact transportation of protein crystals towards an extraction point. We present the micro-agent, the actuation system and the visual control system to achieve this automated procedure.