UROP Project

MicroRobotic 3D-Printed Swimmers for Biological & Biomedical Applications

biological materials, nanomaterials, microfabrication, 3D Printing

Research Mentor: Dr. Dr. Jamel Ali,
Department, College, Affiliation: Chemical and Biomedical Engineering, FAMU-FSU College of Engineering, FAMU-FSU College of Engineering
Contact Email: jali@eng.famu.fsu.edu
Research Assistant Supervisor (if different from mentor):
Research Assistant Supervisor Email:
Faculty Collaborators:
Faculty Collaborators Email:

Looking for Research Assistants: Yes
Number of Research Assistants: 2
Relevant Majors: Open to all majors
Project Location: On FSU Main Campus
Research Assistant Transportation Required: FSU Bus
Remote or In-person: Partially Remote
Approximate Weekly Hours: 4-5, Flexible schedule (Combination of business and outside of business. TBD between student and research mentor.)
Roundtable Times and Zoom Link:

• Day: Thursday, September 3
  Start Time: 6:00
  End Time: 8:00
  Zoom Link: https://fsu.zoom.us/j/93896277840

Project Description

There is growing interest in developing tiny wireless swimming devices capable of preforming a variety of tasks, ranging from environmental and industrial to agricultural and biomedical, in low Reynolds number fluids. Over the past two decades these devices have been fabricated though a number of methods, but often involve some form of traditional micromachining, which is costly in terms of time, materials, and fabrication steps. Alternatively, additive manufacturing holds the potential to produce similarly small structured devices at higher scale and lower cost. However, so far there are few reports that focus on additive manufacturing for producing small-scale robotic swimmers. In this proposed work, we will utilize additive manufacturing methods and magnetic wireless control methods to explore the production of swimmers of various geometry for propulsion in viscous biological media.

Research Tasks: Student(s) will: (1) conduct a brief literature review of additive manufacturing of micromachines, (2) use CAD software (e.g. solidworks) along with a mulit-nozzle 3D printers to produce chiral and achiral swimmers (3) assist with wet-lab experiments including (a) magnetic control experiments (b) high-resolution high-speed optical imaging, and (c) rheological characterization of viscous media. The student is expected to document all laboratory activities and write up a report which outlines specific printing parameters for effective robotic swimmers fabrication and control, in addition to their required research poster.

Skills that research assistant(s) may need: Passion for science and engineering along with willingness to learn and ability to balance time to work on the project while taking classes and managing other responsibilities and social activities.