Open AccessA Trajectory Planning Model for the Manipulation of Particles in Microfluidics
Author(s) -
Luca Meacci,
Franciane Fracalossi Rocha,
Arianne Alves Silva,
Pétterson Vinícius Pramiu,
Gustavo C. Buscaglia
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
tema
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2179-8451
pISSN - 1677-1966
DOI - 10.5540/tema.2018.019.03.509
Subject(s) - trajectory , computer science , actuator , point (geometry) , domain (mathematical analysis) , microfluidics , tree (set theory) , trajectory optimization , control theory (sociology) , mathematical optimization , optimal control , simulation , control (management) , mathematics , artificial intelligence , physics , mathematical analysis , geometry , astronomy , thermodynamics
Many important microfluid applications require the control and transport of particles immersed in a fluid. We propose a model for automatically planning good trajectories from an arbitrary point to a target in the presence of obstacles. It can be used for the manipulation of particles using actuators of mechanical or electrical type. We present the mathematical formulation of the model and a numerical method based on the optimization of travel time through the Bellman's principle. The implementation is focused on square grids such as those built from pixelated images. Numerical simulations show that the trajectory tree produced by the algorithm successfully avoids obstacles and stagnant regions of the fluid domain.