Project description
Unlocking the big potential of small-scale robots
As robots shrink to millimetres or micrometres, they face a unique challenge: physical change, requiring new control methods. Small-scale robots, such as those used in medical or environmental fields, must navigate through narrow, difficult-to-reach spaces, adapting their movement from walking to crawling. However, nonlinear effects, such as friction and collision, which are crucial for their motion, are poorly understood, hindering practical applications. Supported by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the EXONS project aims to develop novel control techniques for small-scale robots, especially in delicate environments like the human gut. The project promises to unlock new possibilities for medical interventions and exploration in complex spaces.
Objective
This fellowship tackles traditional barriers between control engineering and small-scale robotics (i.e. the robots in millimetre and micrometre scales): as the size of the robot decreases, the physics that governs their modes of operation (also called dynamical responses) changes dramatically, requiring novel control methods. For example, a micro-robot needs to change its mode of operation from walking to crawling to cross a tunnel, enabling it to reach into narrow and vulnerable environments. The great obstacle to its practical deployment is that nonlinear effects, such as friction and collision, are essential for its motion, but these nonlinearities are poorly understood for effective control. This fellowship will create new approaches to modelling, analysing, and controlling nonlinearities in small-scale robots, in turn opening potential for their applications, such as for medical interventions and environmental exploration. It will create fundamental methods that can be applied to different small-scale robots by other researchers and engineers. This work will focus on a particular scene: a small-scale robot moving in the gut. The long-term vision of this fellowship is to develop small-scale robots that exploit nonlinear mechanical effects to enhance their locomotion and control while operating in complex difficult-to-access environments. The unique research approach of this fellowship, a joint effort of numerical and experimental studies, will be hosted by Prof. Yang Liu from the University of Exeter (UNEXE) with the secondment supervisor, Prof. Matthieu Fruchard from the University of Orléans (UOR), and the consulting gastroenterologist, Dr Shyam Prasad, from the Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- engineering and technology electrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineering electronic engineering robotics
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2024-PF-01
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
EX4 4QJ Exeter
United Kingdom
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.