We want to build tiny gnat-sized robots, a millimeter or two in diameter. They will be cheap, disposable, totally self-contained autonomous agents able to do useful things in the world. This paper consists of two parts. The first describes why we want to build them. The second is a technical outline of how to go about it. Gnat robots are going to change the world.

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The master’s thesis deals with the proposal of microactuator based on SMART material. The thesis opens with the comparison of SMART materials which are suitable for actuator construction from the point of view of a reaction on stimulation in form of deformation. Subsequent part of the thesis is the report theory of piezoelectric effect, it also describes direct and indirect effects and it concerns about the description of piezoelectric materials. The thesis focuses on several principles of piezoactuators and motors. The last part of the thesis includes modeling and simulation of piezoelectric material in program ANSYS 13.0 and dimensioning geometric of actuator with evaluation of impact of parameters on final motion.

The work deals with the design, control, precision and dynamics of linear piezoelectric motors from PiezoMotor Uppsala AB. The aim of this thesis is to evaluate the applicability of the loaned engine in a mass spectrometer. In introduction‘s section of this work is discussing the design principles of functionality, materials used, procedure and types of piezoelectric motors. It focuses the choice of hardware and design of mechanical assemblies, which could replace the current mechanism with electromagnetic motors. Then we designed and fabricated a test report with hired piezoelectric motor. In NI LabView development environment is created test application for control and measurement. The final section is devoted to a summary of the positive and negative features of the hired piezoelectric motor and evaluation of accuracy and dynamics.

Percutaneous needle placement, a minimally invasive procedure performed dozens of millions in the U.S. each year, relies on dedicated skill and long-term training due to difficult control of needle trajectory inside tissue and mental registration of images to locations inside the patient. Inaccurate needle placement may miss cancer tumors during diagnosis or eradicate healthy tissue during therapy. MRI provides ideal procedure guidance with the merit of excellent soft tissue contrast and volumetric imaging for high spatial resolution visualization of targets and surgical tool. However, manual insertion in the bore of an MRI scanner has awkward ergonomics due to difficult access to the patient, making both training and intervention even harder. To overcome the challenges related to MRI electromagnetic compatibility and mechanical constraints of the confined close-bore, a modular networked robotic system utilizing piezoelectric actuation for fully actuated prostate biopsy and brachytherapy is developed and evaluated with accuracy study. To enhance manipulation dexterity, two kinds of steerable continuum needle robots are developed. The asymmetric tip needle robot performs needle rotation and translation control to minimize tissue deformation, and increase steering dexterity to compensate placement error under continuous MRI guidance. The MRI-guided concentric tube robot is deployed to access delicate surgical sites that are traditionally inaccessible by straight and rigid surgical tools without relying on tissue reaction force. The master-slave teleoperation system with hybrid actuation is the first of its kind for prostate intervention with force feedback. The teleoperation controller provides the feel and functionality of manual needle insertion. Fabry- Perot interferometer based fiber optic force sensor is developed for the slave manipulator to measure needle insertion force and render proprioception feedback during teleoperation.