Invited Talk: Sukyoung Won, PhD (Caltech): Polymer Composite Engineering for Microrobot Swarm Intelligence, Tue Feb11th 2025, 17h CET

We are excited to be able to listen to Sukyoung Won from CalTech soon!

Title: Polymer Composite Engineering for Microrobot Swarm Intelligence
Date: Tue Feb11th 2025, 17h CET
Location: https://fau.zoom-x.de/j/65288401342?pwd=YRVlJAVtEoPl9naWhHt3jFLJb4oYjk.1

Abstract
Robot swarms can complete complicated and time-consuming missions through cooperative interactions communicated by sensors. However, sensor-free miniaturized robots face a significant challenge in achieving effective inter-robot communication. In this talk, I will present a strategy to program magnetic interactions in microrobot swarms via polymer-magnetic particle composite engineering. By tailoring interparticle distances and magnetic properties of the composites, microrobots can modulate magnetic attractive forces between them, thereby realizing either independent or interactive collective behavior. Based on the controlled swarm patterns, the magnetic microrobots can achieve swarm intelligence unattainable by a single microrobot. The multifunctional microrobot swarms highlight the potential to advance scalable swarm control strategies and broaden the capabilities of miniaturized robots.

Biography

Her main interests focus on collective actuation of untethered, miniaturized robots at the nano-, micro-, and mesoscale through polymer composite processing, with the goal of expanding advanced robotic applications beyond single-robot functions.

Sukyoung Won received her Ph.D. degree in Environmental and Polymer Engineering from Inha University, Republic of Korea, in 2023. Currently, she is a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Medical Engineering at California Institute of Technology (Caltech), USA.