Proceeding of the IEEE 28th

Canadian Conference on Electrical and Computer Engineering

Halifax, Canada, May 3-6, 2015

Study on Mathematic Magnetic Field Model of Rectangular Coils for

Magnetic Actuation*
Shuang Song, Haoyong Yu∗ , Hongliang Ren∗

Abstract— Magnetic actuation is an efficient way for wireless

manipulation of micro-robots. One key factor for the actuation
is determining of the magnetic field components and the field
gradients of electromagnetic coils. Usually, magnetic dipole
model or interpolation method is used to calculate the magnetic
field. These methods are not well suitable for estimation of the
magnetic field. In this paper, we present a mathematic magnetic
field model of rectangular electromagnetic coils for magnetic
actuation. The proposed model is based on the Biot-Savart Law
and superposition principle. Finite element software is used to
verify the proposed model. The final analytical expressions are
given and simulation results show the feasibility of the method.
Index Terms— Magnetic Actuation; Mathematic Model; Fi-
nite Element; Rectangular Coils.

I. INTRODUCTION
One approach to the remote control of microrobots is
through externally applied magnetic field. Thanks to its
capacity of remote manipulation feature, magnetic actuation
method for micro-robots has been widely used in biomedical
remote control applications, such as wireless capsule endo-
scope, cell manipulation, catheter actuation and so on. In
terms of the magnetic source, permanent magnet [1], [2]
and electromagnetic coils [3]–[5] can be used to provide
the actuation force. Compared with the permanent magnet,
the electromagnetic coils are more flexible to control and
alter the magnetic field. Therefore electromagnetic coils are
widely used for actuation. There are two types actuation
force that can be used for remote manipulation, the magnetic
torque and the magnetic force. Magnetic torque makes the
magnet rotating and the magnetic force pull or push the
magnet.
There are two kinds of coils based actuation methods, 1)
the uniform magnetic field and constant gradient magnetic
field, which are generated by Helmholtz coils (as shown in
Fig.1) and Maxwell coils (as shown in Fig.2), respectively
[6]–[9]. The Helmholtz and Maxwell coils usually work
together to control a micro magnetic particle. The model of
these two coils are very simple and therefore the system is
easy to be realized. The uniform field from Helmholtz coils
provide the torque and the constant gradient from Maxwell
∗ Corresponding authors are Ren H. and Yu H., mail:{ren, biey-
hy}@nus.edu.sg
This work is supported by Singapore Academic Research Fund, under
Grant R397000139133, R397000157112, R397000156112 and NUS Grant
C397000039001.
Authors are with the department of biomedical engineering, National
University of Singapore
Fig. 1. Helmholtz coils . A Helmholtz coil is a device for producing
a region of nearly uniform magnetic field. A Helmholtz pair consists of
two identical circular magnetic coils that are placed symmetrically along a
common axis, one on each side of the experimental area, and separated by
a distance h equal to the radius R of the coil. Each coil carries an equal
electrical current flowing in the same direction.
coils provide the magnetic force for pull or push; and 2)
the nonuniform field and variant gradient field, which are
produced by custom built coils [10]–[12]. The magnetic field
and gradient need to be calculated for each position of the
magnetic particle during the actuation.
Usually, magnetic dipole model [13] or interpolation
method is used to calculate the magnetic field. These meth-
ods are not well suitable for estimation of the magnetic
field. In [14], authors proposed a integral model for magnetic
coils by using complete elliptic integrals of the first (K) and
second (E) types. This model is complex and the magnetic
components are not accurate at the test position. Kummer [5]
proposed an analytical model, the point dipole model which
was based on the magnetic dipole model and fit to field data
obtained from an finite element method (FEM) model of the
final system for each of the unit-current contributions.
Modeling of permanent magnet or magnetic coils are
generally based on the Biot-Savart Law and integral [14]–
[16]. In this paper, we propose a mathematic magnetic
field model of rectangular electromagnetic coils for magnetic
actuation. The proposed model is based on the Biot-Savart
Law and superposition principle. Compared with the circle
coils, the proposed model has a simpler analytical expression.
Compared with the magnetic dipole model, this proposed

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 can be controlled by the applied magnetic torque and force.
The torque that a magnetic field applies to the object is
described by

⎛ ⎞⎛ ⎞
0 −Mz My Bx
T = m × B = ⎝ Mz 0 −Mx ⎠ ⎝ By ⎠ (1)
−My Mx 0 Bz

where (Bx , By , Bz ) is the magnetic flux density at position

Fig. 2. Maxwell Coils. A Maxwell coil is a device for producing a large
volume of almost constant (or constant gradient)
√ magnetic field. A Maxwell
coil consists of a pair of coils separated by 3 times their radius. Each coil
carries an equal electrical current flowing in the different direction.
(x, y, z) and (Mx , My , Mz ) is the magnetic moment of
the magnetic microrobot. The torque aligns the microrobot
magnetic moment vector m with the magnetic flux density
vector B. For translational manipulation, a spatial gradient of
the magnetic field exerts a force on the magnetic microrobot.
The magnetic force is expressed as

F = (m · ∇)B (2)

Generally, the condition ∇ × B = 0 is satisfied, (2) can

be expanded as
⎛ ∂B ∂By ∂Bz ⎞
x
⎜ ∂x ∂x ∂x ⎟
⎜ ⎟⎛ ⎞
⎜ ⎟ Mx
⎜ ∂Bx ∂By ⎟
∂Bz ⎟ ⎝
F=⎜
⎜ ∂y My ⎠ (3)
⎜ ∂y ∂y ⎟
⎟
⎜ ⎟ Mz
⎝ ⎠
∂Bx ∂By ∂Bz
∂z ∂z ∂z
Therefore, based on the position and direction of the
magnetic particle, an appropriate control strategy can be
applied to achieve the actuation.

III. M ATHEMATIC M ODEL OF R ECTANGULAR C OILS

As shown in Fig.4, the length, width and height of

Fig. 3. Schematic Diagram for Rectangular Coils based Magnetic Actuation
System
model is much more accurate. The proposed model is given
as analytical expression, which is very suitable for magnetic
force and torque calculation.
The organization of this paper is as follows. In Section
II, magnetic actuation method is introduced. In Section III,
derivation of the mathematic model of the rectangular coils
will be presented in detail. In Section IV, simulation and
comparison result will be shown and conclusions are drawn
in Section V.
II. M AGNETIC ACTUATION M ETHOD
As shown in Fig.3, the magnetic actuation system uses
symmetrical rectangular electromagnetic coils to serve as
the magnetic field sources. The driven target —- a magnetic
microrobot is placed in the center of the system.
The orientation and position of this magnetic microrobot
this rectangular coils are 2l, 2w and 2h respectively. The
direction of the currents is shown in the figure using arrows.
By using the center of this magnet as the origin point, the
magnet coordinate is built. Based on Biot-Savart Law, the
magnetic field dB at the position P = (a, b, c) generated
by a surface current can be calculated. The surface current
I = Idl is shown in Fig.4(b) using red lines, where I = Js dx
is magnitude of current, dl is the orientation of the current
and Js is the current density (A/m). (x, y, z) is the point on
this current. The magnetic filed at position P can be estimated
by
 l
B= dB (4)
−l
For segment 1, the orientation of current is (0, −1, 0).
Based on Biot-Savart Law, the magnetic field strength gen-
erated by current segment 1 can be calculated using the
following equation

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 Idl × P
dB2 = K
|P|3
⎛ ⎞
i j k
(a) Rectangular Coil ⎝ 0 0 −1 ⎠
 h
a−x b−y c−z
= Kdx 3 dz
−h ((a − x)2 + (b − y)2 + (c − z)2 ) 2
(7)
Decompose the above equation to three compositions

⎧  h
⎪
⎪ b+w
⎪
⎪ dBx2 = Kdx 3 dz
⎪
⎪ −h ((a − x)2 + (b + w)2 + (c − h)2 ) 2
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎨  h
−(a − x)
⎪
⎪ dBy2 = Kdx dz
⎪
⎪ −h ((a − x)2 + (b + w)2 + (c − h)2 ) 2
3

⎪
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎩
dBz2 = 0
(b) Biot-Savart Law and Integral. (8)
For segment 3, the orientation of current is (0, 1, 0), the
Fig. 4. Modelling of the Rectangular Coil. The model is based on the magnetic field generated by current segment 3 is
Biot-Savart Law and superposition principle.

Idl × P
dB3 = K
|P|3
⎛ ⎞
i j k
⎝ 0 1 0 ⎠
 w
a−x b−y c−z
= Kdx 3 dy
Idl × P −w ((a − x)2 + (b − y)2 + (c − z)2 ) 2
dB1 = K (9)
|P|3
⎛ ⎞ Decompose the above equation to three compositions
i j k
⎝ 0 −1 0 ⎠
 w ⎧ 
a−x b−y c−z ⎪
w
c+h
= Kdx 3 dy
⎪
⎪ dBx3 = Kdx dy
((a − x)2 + (b − y)2 + (c − z)2 ) 2 ⎪
⎪ 3
−w ⎪
⎪ −w ((a − x)2 + (b − y)2 + (c + h)2 ) 2
(5) ⎪
⎪
⎪
⎨
where K = Js μ0 /4π. Decompose the above equation to dBy3 = 0
⎪
⎪
three compositions ⎪
⎪
⎪
⎪ 
⎪
⎪
w
−(a − x)
⎪
⎪ dBz3 = Kdx 3 dy
⎩
((a − x)2 + (b − y)2 + (c + h)2 ) 2
−w
(10)
⎧  w For segment 4, the orientation of current is (0, 0, 1),
⎪
⎪ −(c − h) the magnetic field generated by current segment 4 can be
⎪
⎪ dBx1 = Kdx 3 dy
⎪
⎪ −w ((a − x) + (b − y)2 + (c − h)2 ) 2
2 calculated with the subsequent equation
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎨
dBy1 = 0 Idl × P
⎪
⎪ dB4 = K
⎪
⎪ |P|3
⎪
⎪  ⎛ ⎞
⎪
⎪
w
a−x
⎪
⎪ dBz1 = Kdx dy i j k
⎩ 3
⎝ 0
−w ((a − x)2 + (b − y)2 + (c − h)2 ) 2
0 1 ⎠
(6)  h
a−x b−y c−z
= Kdx 3 dz
For segment 2, the orientation of current is (0, 0, −1), −h ((a − x)2 + (b − y)2 + (c − z)2 ) 2
the magnetic field generated by current segment 2 can be (11)
calculated with the subsequent equation Decompose the above equation to three compositions

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 For each given position (a, b, c) that outside the coils, B
⎧  h can be estimated based on above equations. Therefore, torque
⎪
⎪ −(b − w)
⎪
⎪ dBx4 = Kdx 3 dz can be calculated with (1).
⎪
⎪ −h ((a − x)2 + (b − w)2 + (c − h)2 ) 2
⎪
⎪ Define F1 and F2 as follows
⎪
⎪
⎨  h  
a−x zx
⎪
⎪ dBy4 = Kdx 3 dz
F1 = atan  (20)
⎪
⎪ −h ((a − x) 2 + (b − w)2 + (c − h)2 ) 2 y (x 2 + y2 + z2 )
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎪  
⎪
⎪ (x2 + y 2 + z 2 )
⎩
dBz4 = 0 F2 = atanh (21)
z
(12)
Based on electromagnetic field principle, the magnetic Therefore
field dB = (dBx , dBy , dBz ) generated by surface current
can be calculated from the above equations: ⎧
⎪ ∂F1 yz
⎪
⎪ ∂x = 2 
⎪
⎪ (x + y ) x2 + y 2 + z 2
2
⎪
⎪
4 4 4 ⎪
⎪
dB = (dBx , dBy , dBz ) = ( dBz i ) ⎪
⎪
dBxi , dBy i , ⎨ ∂F xz(x2 + 2y 2 + z 2 )
1
i=1 i=1 i=1 =−  (22)
(13) ⎪
⎪ ∂y (x2 + y 2 )(y 2 + z 2 ) x2 + y 2 + z 2
⎪
⎪
Therefore, by using integral method, we can have the ⎪
⎪
⎪
⎪
expressions for magnetic field components generated by the ⎪
⎪ ∂F1 xy
⎪
⎩ = 
rectangular coils. That is ∂z (y + z ) x2 + y 2 + z 2
2 2

B = (Bx , By , Bz ) ⎧
⎪ ∂F xz
 l 4  l 4
 l 4
⎪ 2 =
⎪ 
(14) ⎪
⎪ ∂x (x + y ) x2 + y 2 + z 2
2 2
=( dBxi , dByi , dBzi ) ⎪
⎪
⎪
⎪
−l i=1 −l i=1 −l i=1 ⎪
⎪
⎨ ∂F2 yz
By solving the equations above, we can have the analytic =  (23)
⎪
⎪ ∂y (x + y ) x2 + y 2 + z 2
2 2
expressions for (Bx , By , Bz ) ⎪
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎪ ∂F2 1
Bx = K(f1 (a, c − h, b − w) − f1 (a, c − h, b + w) ⎪
⎩ =
∂z x + y2 + z2
2
+ f1 (a, b + w, c + h) − f1 (a, b + w, c − h)
(15) Using the equations above, derivative of (Bx , By , Bz ) with
+ f1 (a, c + h, b + w) − f1 (a, c + h, b − w)
respect to (x, y, z) can be obtained. Therefore, magnetic force
+ f1 (a, b − w, c − h) − f1 (a, b − w, c + h)) can be estimated with (3).
IV. S IMULATION R ESULT
By = K(f2 (a, b + w, c − h) − f2 (a, b + w, c + h)
(16) Finite element software, Ansys Maxwell 16.0 is used to
+ f2 (a, b − w, c + h) − f2 (a, b − w, c − h))
simulate and verify the proposed magnetic model. During
the simulation, the size parameters of the rectangular coil
Bz = K(f2 (a, c − h, b + w) − f2 (a, c − h, b − w) are defined as follows: l = 100mm, h = 20mm, w = 20mm.
(17)
+ f2 (a, c + h, b − w) − f2 (a, c + h, b + w)) These parameters are based on the rectangular coil as shown
in Fig.4(a). Set the current parameters as I = 2000A·T urns,
where therefore
  μ0 I
c(a − l) K= = 1e − 3 (24)
f1 (a, b, c) = −atan  4π 2l
b ((a − l)2 + b2 + c2 ) Some comparisons have been made between proposed
  (18)
c(a + l) magnetic model, magnetic dipole model and Ansys Maxwell
+ atan  results. The comparison points are chosen in an area from
b ((a + l)2 + b2 + c2 )
(140,-10,-10)mm to (160,10,10)mm. For each axis, the step
  is 4mm. The chosen area is based on the manipulation area
((a − l)2 + b2 + c2 ) shown in Fig.3.
f2 (a, b, c) = atanh
c Comparison results are shown in Fig.5, where red points
  (19) are for the magnetic dipole model, purple stars represent the
((a + l)2 + b2 + c2 ) proposed model and blue circles are the results from Ansys
− atanh
c Maxwell. From the comparison results, we can see that the

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Fig. 5. Comparison results. The red points are for the magnetic dipole model, purple stars represent the proposed model and blue circles are the results
from Ansys Maxwell.
proposed magnetic model is very good and much better than
the magnetic dipole model.
V. C ONCLUSION
A mathematic model of magnetic field for rectangular
electromagnetic coils is proposed in this paper. This model is
derived based on the superposition principle of magnetic field
and the Biot-Savart Law. Analytical expressions have been
given to calculate the magnetic field outside the rectangular
coils and the torque and force values can be easily estimated
based on these analytical expressions. Simulation experi-
ments and the comparison results between the proposed
model, magnetic dipole model and Ansoft Maxwell show
that this model is good and much better than magnetic dipole
model. With this model, magnetic actuation method based on
the rectangular coils can be achieved, which is a good choice
for wireless manipulation of microrobots.
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