Zoltan Nagy
Dr. Sc. ETH
Dipl. Masch.-Ing. ETH
Modeling, Simulation and Optimization Services
This Page is optimized for FireFox.
[...] it would be interesting in surgery if you could swallow the surgeon. You put the mechanical surgeon inside the blood vessel and it goes into the heart and looks around.
[...] How do we make such a tiny mechanism? I leave that to you.
- Richard Feynman, There's plenty of room at the bottom, 1959.
We are developing a modular robotic system that can be swallowed and will assemble inside the G.I. Tract for therapeutic and diagnostic procedures. ETH Zürich is one of four European universities participating in this project, led by Paolo Dario at Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna.
My research involves the investigation of the self-assembly of the ARES robot inside the stomach. Using a specific magnet configuration on the connection face, assembly success rates of up to 90% are possible.
This project aims at developing magnetic microrobotics for ophtalmic surgery.
I am involved in developing the magnetic model for assembled-MEMS microrobots. The model is validated through FEM simulations and experiments, and captures the characteristics of complex 3-D structures. It allows us, for the first time, to consider full 6-DOF control of untethered devices.
The Swiss French Television (TSR, Nouvo, Dec.5, 2008) reported on both projects:
A German (SF1, Einstein, Feb.5, 2009) version is also available.
In this project, we consider world's first really untethered microrobots that are driven by oscillating magnetic fields. The oscillations are converted into mechanical energy and rectified using a spring-mass impact system with friction, leading to stick-slip motion.
I model this system using non-smooth multi-body dynamics and can explain several unintuitive behaviors that are experimentally not explicable because of the nature of the devices. The microrobots are fabricated and characterized experimentally by Dominic Frutiger.
D. Rossi, Z. Nagy, and A. Schlueter, Adaptive Distributed Robotics for Environmental Performance, Occupant Comfort and Architectural Expression, Int'l. Journal of Architectural Computing
doi: in Press
S. Miyashita, K. Nakajima, Z. Nagy, and R. Pfeifer, Self-organized Translational Wheeling Behavior in Stochastic Self-Assembling Modules, Journal of Artificial Life
doi: submitted
Z. Nagy, R.I. Leine, D.R. Frutiger, Ch. Glocker and B. J. Nelson, Modeling the Motion of Microrobots on Surfaces Using Non-Smooth Multi-Body Dynamics, IEEE Transactions on Robotics
doi: in Press
Z. Nagy and B. J. Nelson, Lagrangian Modeling of the Magnetization and the Magnetic Torque on Assembled Soft-Magnetic MEMS Devices for Fast Computation and Analysis, IEEE Transactions on Robotics, 2012, Vol. 28, Nr. 4
doi: 10.1109/TRO.2012.2193230
S. Miyashita, Z. Nagy, B. J. Nelson, and R. Pfeifer, The Influence of Shape on Parallel Self-Assembly, Entropy 2009, 11(4), pp. 643-666
doi: 10.3390/e11040643
Z. Nagy, K. Harada, M. Fluckiger, E. Susilo, I. K. Kaliakatsos, A. Menciassi, E. Hawkes, J. J. Abbott, P. Dario, and B. J. Nelson, Assembling Reconfigurable Endoluminal Surgical Systems: Opportunities and Challenges, International Journal of Biomechatronics and Biomedical Robotics, Vol. 1, No. 1, pp 3-16, 2009
doi: 10.1504/IJBBR.2009.030054
M. Probst, M. Flueckiger, S. Pane, O. Ergeneman, Z. Nagy and B.J. Nelson, Manufacturing of a Hybrid Acoustic Transmitter Using an Advanced Microassembly System, IEEE. Trans. Indust. Electronics, Vol.56, Issue 7, pp. 2657-2666
doi: 10.1109/TIE.2009.2021173
M. Flueckiger, Z. Nagy, M. Probst, O. Ergeneman, S. Pane, and B.J. Nelson, A Microfabricated and Microassembled Wireless Resonator, Sensors & Actuators A: Physical
doi: 10.1016/j.sna.2009.07.012
F. Beyeler, S. Muntwyler, Z. Nagy, C. Graetzel, M. Moser and B.J. Nelson, Design and calibration of a MEMS sensor for measuring the force and torque acting on a magnetic microrobot, J. Micromech. Microeng. (18) 025004 (7pp), 2008
doi: 10.1088/0960-1317/18/2/025004
J. J. Abbott, Z. Nagy, F. Beyeler, B. J. Nelson, Robotics in the Small, Part I: Microrobotics, IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine, Vol. 14, No. 2, 2007, pp. 92-103
doi: 10.1109/MRA.2007.380641
Z. Nagy, D. Rossi, and A. Schlueter, Sustainable Architecture and Human Comfort through Adaptive Distributed Systems, in Proc. IEEE Int. Conference on Pervasive Computing and Communications (PerCom), 2012, Lugano, Switzerland
doi: accepted
Z. Nagy and B. J. Nelson, On the Feasibility of Magnetic Self-Assembly for Swallowable Modular Robots, Workshop on MesoScale Robotics for Medical Interventions at the IEEE Int. Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), 2010, Anchorage, AK, USA
Z. Nagy, D. Frutiger, R.I. Leine, C. Glocker, and B. J. Nelson, Modeling and analysis of wireless resonant magnetic microactuators, in Proc. IEEE Int. Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), 2010, Anchorage, AK, USA
doi: 10.1109/ROBOT.2010.5509260
Z. Nagy, S. Miyashita, S. Muntwyler, A.K. Cherukuri, J.J. Abbott, R. Pfeiffer, and B.J. Nelson, Morphology Detection for Magnetically Self-Assembled Modular Robots, in Proc. IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), 2009, St. Louis, MO, USA
doi: 10.1109/IROS.2009.5354764
Z. Nagy, M. Flueckiger, O. Ergeneman, S. Pane, M. Probst and B.J. Nelson, A Wireless Acoustic Emitter for Passive Localization in Liquids, in Proc. IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), 2009, Kobe, Japan
doi: 10.1109/ROBOT.2009.5152292
Z. Nagy, R. Oung, J. J. Abbott, and B. J. Nelson, Experimental Investigation of Magnetic Self-Assembly for Swallowable Modular Robots, in Proc. IEEE/RJS International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), 2008, Nice, France
doi: 10.1109/IROS.2008.4650662
Z. Nagy, O. Ergeneman, J. J. Abbott, M. Hutter, A. M. Hirt, and B. J. Nelson, Modeling Assembled-MEMS Microrobots for Wireless Magnetic Control, in Proc. IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), 2008, Pasadena, CA, USA
doi: 10.1109/ROBOT.2008.4543315
F. Beyeler, S. Muntwyler, Z. Nagy, M. Moser, and B.J. Nelson, A Multi-Axis MEMS Force-Torque Sensor for Measuring the Load on a Microrobot Actuated by Magnetic Fields, in Proc. IEEE/RJS International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), 2007, St. Diego, CA, USA
doi: 10.1109/IROS.2007.4399004
Z. Nagy, J. J. Abbott, and B. J. Nelson, The Magnetic Self-Aligning Hermaphroditic Connector: A Scalable Approach for Modular Microrobots, in Proc. IEEE/ASME Int. Conf. Advanced Intelligent Mechatronics, 2007, Zurich, Switzerland
doi: 10.1109/AIM.2007.4412519
Z. Nagy, Numerical Approaches To 3D Magnetic MEMS, MSc Thesis, ETH Zurich, 2006
doi: 10.3929/ethz-a-005280339
Z. Nagy, Modeling and analysis of the magnetization, torque and dynamics of untethered soft-magnetic microrobots, PhD Thesis, ETH Zurich, 2011
doi: 10.3929/ethz-a-006541148
Z. Nagy, A. Sadowski, Systems and Methods for Data Management, U.S. Provisional Patent Application No.: 61/286,835
Z. Nagy, F. Beyeler, Die Mikrowelt entdecken: Die Arbeit mit Mikroobjekten, Bulletin SEV/VSE, November 2009
| Semester | Course | Duties | Students |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fall'06, '07, '08 | Introduction to Robotics and Mechatronics | Supervision of weekly laboratory sessions and exam grading | 60-100 |
| Fall'07, '08, '09 | Theory of Robotics and Mechatronics | Exam grading | 40-90 |
| Spring'08, Fall'09, '10 | Microrobotics | Prepared and gave lectures and assignments on magnetism | 20-40 |
| ETH Zürich | 2006-2011 | Ph. D. Student - Advisor: Prof. Brad Nelson |
| MIT Cambridge, USA | 10/2009-11/2009 | Visiting Graduate Student with Prof. Daniela Rus (CSAIL) |
| ETH Zürich | 2001-2006 | Dipl.-Ing (M.Sc.) Mechanical Engineering - Advisors: Dr. Jake Abbott and Prof. Brad Nelson |
| Sensirion AG | 07/2005-10/2005 | Internship (Micro Flow Sensors) |
| DTU Copenhagen | 02/2005-06/2005 | Academic Exchange Semester (ERASMUS Scholarship) |
| Mathematical Modeling | MATLAB/Simulink, Mathematica |
| Numerical Analysis (FEM) | ANSYS, COMSOL Multiphysics (FEMLAB), Maxwell-3D |
| Computer Aided Design (CAD) | Unigraphics NX, SolidWorks, |
| Programming and OS | C/C++, PHP/MySQL, Windows, Linux |
| Documentation and Design | MS Office, Latex, Adobe Illustrator & InDesign |
My religion consists of a humble admiration of the illimitable superior spirit who reveals himself in the slight details we are able to perceive with our frail and feeble mind.
- Albert Einstein
(reload page for new wise words)