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Textbook Microbiorobotics Biologically Inspired Microscale Robotic Systems A Volume in Micro and Nano Technologies Minjun Kim Ebook All Chapter PDF
Textbook Microbiorobotics Biologically Inspired Microscale Robotic Systems A Volume in Micro and Nano Technologies Minjun Kim Ebook All Chapter PDF
Biologically Inspired
Microscale Robotic Systems. A volume
in Micro and Nano Technologies Minjun
Kim
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Edited by
MinJun Kim
Anak Agung Julius
U Kei Cheang
Elsevier
Radarweg 29, PO Box 211, 1000 AE Amsterdam, Netherlands
The Boulevard, Langford Lane, Kidlington, Oxford OX5 1GB, United Kingdom
50 Hampshire Street, 5th Floor, Cambridge, MA 02139, United States
Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical,
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This book and the individual contributions contained in it are protected under copyright by the Publisher (other than as
may be noted herein).
Notices
Knowledge and best practice in this field are constantly changing. As new research and experience broaden our
understanding, changes in research methods, professional practices, or medical treatment may become necessary.
Practitioners and researchers must always rely on their own experience and knowledge in evaluating and using any
information, methods, compounds, or experiments described herein. In using such information or methods they should
be mindful of their own safety and the safety of others, including parties for whom they have a professional
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ISBN: 978-0-323-42993-1
xi
xii Contributors
Hoyeon Kim
Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX, United States
MinJun Kim
Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX, United States
Vijay Kumar
University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States
Dejan Milutinović
University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, United States
Sarthak Misra
University of Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands
Yan Ou
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY, United States
Stefano Palagi
Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems, Stuttgart, Germany
Jong-Oh Park
Chonnam National University, Gwangju, South Korea
Sukho Park
Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology, Daegu, South Korea
Tian Qiu
Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems, Stuttgart, Germany;
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
Edward B. Steager
University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States
Debora Walker
Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems, Stuttgart, Germany
Denise Wong
University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States
About the editors
MinJun Kim, PhD
Dr. MinJun Kim is presently the Robert C. Womack Endowed Chair Professor at the Depart-
ment of Mechanical Engineering of Southern Methodist University. He received his BS and MS
degrees in Mechanical Engineering from Yonsei University in Korea and Texas A&M Univer-
sity, respectively. Dr. Kim completed his PhD degree in Engineering at Brown University, where
he held the prestigious Simon Ostrach Fellowship. Following his graduate studies, Dr. Kim was
a postdoctoral research fellow at the Rowland Institute of Harvard University. He joined Drexel
University in 2006 as an Assistant Professor and was later promoted to Professor of Mechanical
Engineering and Mechanics. Since Aug. 2016, he has been the Director of the Center for Bio-
logical Actuation, Sensing and Transport (CBAST) at the Lyle School of Engineering. Dr. Kim
has been exploring biological transport phenomena including cellular/molecular mechanics and
engineering in novel nano/microscale architectures to produce new types of nanobiotechnology,
such as nanopore technology and nano/micro robotics. His notable awards include the National
Science Foundation CAREER Award (2008), Drexel Career Development Award (2008), Hu-
man Frontier Science Program Young Investigator Award (2009), Army Research Office Young
Investigator Award (2010), Alexander von Humboldt Fellowship (2011), Bionic Engineering
Outstanding Contribution Award (2013), Louis & Bessie Stein Fellowship (2014), ISBE Fel-
low (2014), ASME Fellow (2014), KOFST Brain Pool Fellowship (2015), and Netexplo Award
(2016).
xv
xvi About the editors
the book Microbiorobotics (ISBN 1455778915) and Mathematical Control Theory I: Nonlinear
and Hybrid Control Systems (ISBN 3319209876). He received an NSF CAREER award in
2010, and Rensselaer School of Engineering Research Excellence Award for Junior Faculty in
2016.
xvii
xviii Preface
MinJun Kim
Anak Agung Julius
U Kei Cheang
xix
Motivation for
microbiorobotics
For much of the history of robotics, research has focused on systems that
have some relation in operational capability or length scale to humans. From
the perspective of the layman, the very definition of robot is most often
closely tied to the subclass of robotics relating to humanoids. Perhaps this
isn’t particularly surprising, since the methods of machining and the tools
that we first developed are correlated with our ability to easily observe and
manipulate objects at macroscopic length scales. That is, with the naked
eye we can easily see objects down to the millimeter, and our hands are not
adept at working with smaller objects. It is also not surprising that we have
developed strong capabilities at developing much larger structures such as
bridges and skyscrapers. In a sense, the bottom of the scale limits engi-
neers more than the top, and we can consider the largest structures to be
considered ‘bottom-up,’ a concept that is prevalent in nanotechnology. In
the last decade, significant advances have been made in the field of mi-
crorobotics due to relatively recent advancements in both micromachining
and microscopy. With the proliferation of several advanced tools for imag-
ing and analysis, such as atomic force, electron, and confocal microscopies,
coupled with the increasing availability of microfabrication technology, we
can expect to see tighter integration between fundamental discovery and en-
gineering applications.
Experimentalists in microscale robotics are inevitably led to consider two
fundamental questions. Firstly, what can we learn from cells in terms of
mimicking or integrating natural phenomena with robots? Secondly, how
can we apply new microrobotic technologies to the fields of cell biology
and medicine?
Cells are, in a sense, highly optimized and specialized microrobots. If we
look at the function of a cell from the perspective of a beginning robotics
course, we find striking analogs between cells and robots. Motor proteins
perform as actuators, neurons and ion channels act as wiring, DNA and
RNA act as memory and software, etc. The cellular systems are composed
of elements that are self-assembled in the truest, atomistic sense from the
bottom up. Proteins are the functional subunit of the cellular machinery, as-
Microbiorobotics
Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. xxiii
xxiv Motivation for microbiorobotics
sembled into myriad actuators and sensors. In the current state of micro-
and nanorobotics, we either mimic behaviors that are otherwise performed
by these proteins, or we use whole, intact cells. For example, the behavior
of the flagellum is currently replicated not by proteins, but by external mag-
netic fields [1–4], and the sensing of chemical compounds may be interfaced
with mechanical measurements and solid-state microelectronics [5]. In the
long view, however, it is only reasonable to expect that cellular subsystems
will be successfully integrated with microfabricated, inorganic elements. In-
deed, there is a significant progress being made in the effort to harness the
power of motor proteins as microactuators.
The branches of bioengineering related to genetic engineering and synthetic
biology will also inevitably be interfaced with microbiorobotics, from both
the standpoint of sensors and actuators, or even combinations. In the field of
optogenetics, we see a step toward this combination, the coupling of light
exposure with muscle actuation [6]. If we’re willing to expand our definition
of robotics, another viable option is to reprogram whole cells to suit our
needs. Bacterial and yeast cells have been reprogrammed to perform basic
operations such as counting and timing [7,8].
One of the great challenges in microrobotics is expanding the current control
capabilities from single or few-robot systems to many-robot systems. Since
many of the current techniques are field based, it is no small task to accom-
plish. That is, individual control is limited by the divergence or resolution
of the applied fields. In many current systems, sensing and control are per-
formed at a much larger scale using the microscope as an interface. Despite
the current limitations on the ability to create systems of independent mi-
crorobots, it is easy to imagine how such capabilities would greatly enable
otherwise difficult tasks, such as the collective propulsion of large objects
relative to the robot size, or collecting data in from disparate locations.
From the biomimetic point of view, multirobot systems seem like an obvi-
ous step along the continuum of technological advancement. Although there
are certainly countless examples of microorganisms that go about their life
cycle in a largely independent manner, there are also many examples of
single-cell organisms that demonstrate collective behaviors, such as swarm-
ing bacteria [9].
Passive, circulating multirobotic systems can also easily be envisioned. Al-
though much of the focus to date has been on actuation methods, sensing
networks of passively flowing, perhaps even communicating robots. For in-
stance, leukocytes detect and defend against infection in the human body.
Although many of these cells circulate freely in the blood, they are able
References xxv
to sense and respond to foreign bodies. One can imagine another layer of
robotic protection tasked with monitoring or even responding to disease.
As described, there are clearly myriad options for fundamental study on
several levels with direct applicability to microbiorobotics. While the fun-
damental research by itself serves to motivate the subject as a whole, the
application of microbiorobots to cellular research, drug delivery, or as work-
ing tools for other microscale tasks should prove to be fascinating.
REFERENCES
[1] U.K. Cheang, et al., Minimal geometric requirements for micropropulsion via mag-
netic rotation, Phys. Rev. E 90 (3) (2014) 033007.
[2] L. Zhang, et al., Artificial bacterial flagella: fabrication and magnetic control, Appl.
Phys. Lett. 94 (2009) 064107.
[3] A. Ghosh, P. Fischer, Controlled propulsion of artificial magnetic nanostructured pro-
pellers, Nano Lett. 9 (6) (2009) 2243–2245.
[4] W. Gao, S. Sattayasamitsathit, K. Manian Manesh, D. Weihs, J. Wang, Magnetically-
powered flexible metal nanowire motors, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 132 (2010) 14403–14405.
[5] N.V. Lavrik, M.J. Sepaniak, P.G. Datskos, Cantilever transducers as a platform for
chemical and biological sensors, Rev. Sci. Instrum. 75 (2004) 2229.
[6] T. Bruegmann, et al., Optogenetic control of heart muscle in vitro and in vivo, Nat.
Methods 7 (2010) 897–900.
[7] A.E. Friedland, et al., Synthetic gene networks that count, Science 324 (5931) (2009)
1199–1202.
[8] T. Ellis, X. Wang, J.J. Collins, Diversity-based, model-guided construction of synthetic
gene networks with predicted functions, Nat. Biotechnol. 27 (5) (2009) 465–471.
[9] M.F. Copeland, D.B. Weibel, Bacterial swarming: a model system for studying dy-
namic self-assembly, Soft Matter 5 (2009).
Historical overview
In recent years there has been an increasing interest in the development
of micro-scale robotic systems. Researchers have explored numerous ways
and techniques to provide systems capable of performing micro-scale tasks.
Many micro-scale systems have been biologically inspired or based. For
effective micro-scale systems, it is critical to understand cellular mechan-
ics and their interaction with low Reynolds number environments. Cellular
swimming has led researchers to mimic biological motors such as flagella
for bacteria-inspired microrobots. Others have used biological phenomena
and external stimuli for micro-scale robotic systems such as magnetotac-
tic bacteria. Using bacteria as well as other microorganisms as a power
source for a microrobot has also been investigated. Furthermore, mathe-
matical modeling has been used to characterize cell behavior for control of
microbiorobotic systems. Microbiorobotics has vast potential for creating
robust micro-scale robotic systems.
TAXIS OF MICROORGANISMS
For the control of microbiorobots for micro-scale applications, external
stimuli can be utilized. Many biological microorganisms respond to stim-
uli, such as magnetotaxis (magnetic fields), galvanotaxis (electric fields),
phototaxis (light), and chemotaxis (chemicals). Based on the characterized
behavior of microorganisms, these taxes can be applied to produce a de-
sired response from the micro-scale robot. Responses from microbiorobots
can be used as a method for chemical detection [5] or the manipulation of
objects [6].
Magnetotaxis is used to change the direction of locomotion in motile organ-
isms by inducing a magnetic stimulus [7,8]. Two different magnetotactic
mechanisms, polar and axial, are found in different magnetotactic bacteria
strains. Strains that swim in only one direction along the magnetic field are
polar magnetotactic. These magnetotactic bacteria always swim towards ei-
ther the north or south direction of the magnetic field, and will only reverse
direction if exposed to a more powerful magnetic field. They always move
Artificial bio-inspired microrobots xxix
in the same magnetic direction, relative to the dominant field. Axial mag-
netotactic bacteria move along either direction of magnetic field lines with
frequent reversals of swimming direction and make no distinction between
north and south poles. The magnetic field provides only an axis of motility
for axial magnetotactic bacteria, while both an axis and a direction are spec-
ified for polar magnetotactic bacteria. These two magnetotactic mechanisms
can be utilized to control micro-scale robotic systems.
Electrical current can be used to produce directional movement of motile
cells; this is known as galvanotaxis. Bacteria strains will only swim in one
direction, either towards the anode or cathode. When the electric field is
reversed the cell will turn around, so that the same end of the cell is leading
towards the new anode or cathode [9]. Researchers have established which
direction bacteria strains, Escherichia coli and Salmonella, will swim based
on surface structure [10]. Rough bacteria swam towards the anode, while
smooth bacteria moved toward the cathode. Galvanotaxis has been shown
to be applicable to numerous microorganisms [11,12].
Phototaxis is the movement of an organism in response to light, which can
vary with light intensity and direction. The organism’s reaction to light can
either be negative or positive. Negative phototaxis causes swimming away
from the light source, while in positive phototaxis movement occurs to-
wards light. There are two types of positive phototaxis that are observed
in bacteria, scotophototaxis and true phototaxis. Scotophototaxis is a phe-
nomenon found underneath a microscope. Once the bacterium moves out-
side the illuminated area, it reverses direction and reenters the light. In true
phototaxis cells follow a gradient of increasing light intensity [13]. Pho-
totactic responses are observed in many microorganisms such as Serratia
marcescens [14] and Tetrahymena pyriformis [12]. Similar to phototaxis,
chemotaxis can either be positive (chemoattractants) or negative (chemore-
pellents) based on the cell’s motility response to a chemical concentration
gradient. Chemotaxis is more commonly used for research in biology and
medicine, as there are some disadvantages for controlling organisms as mi-
crobiorobots. There is a significant delay in response and release time when
compared to taxes such as photo, galvano, and magnetic. Also, there are
challenges in the introduction and removal of chemicals as well as the cre-
ation of fluidic disturbances.
BIOLOGICAL MICROROBOTS
Constructing artificial microrobots creates many challenges for engineers.
Due to the differences between the physics of the macro- and micro-scale,
it is difficult to design and manufacture microrobots. The costs are great for
the microrobots that can be constructed. Also, there is a lack of sufficient
power sources for microrobots making them unsuitable for time-consuming
tasks. Some researchers have turned to microorganisms, such as magneto-
tactic bacteria, Serratia marcescens and Tetrahymena pyriformis, to be used
Biological microrobots xxxi
CONCLUSION
Much effort has been put into the study of biologically inspired microscale
robotic systems. To design a robust system, it is important to understand
cellular mechanics as well as the stimuli needed for control of micro-
biorobots. Both artificial bio-inspired and biological microrobots exhibit
great promise. Microbiorobots have the potential to revolutionize many re-
search disciplines including biology and medicine.
REFERENCES
[1] E.M. Purcell, Life at low Reynolds number, Am. J. Phys. 45 (1977) 3–11.
[2] E. Lauga, Life around the scallop theorem, Soft Matter 7 (7) (2011) 3060–3065.
[3] T. Iino, M. Mitani, A mutant of Salmonella possessing straight flagella, Microbiology
49 (1) (1967) 81–88.
[4] C. Brennen, H. Winet, Fluid mechanics of propulsion by cilia and flagella, Annu.
Rev. Fluid Mech. 9 (1) (1977) 339–398.
[5] M.S. Sakar, MicroBioRobots for single cell manipulation, 2010.
[6] M.S. Sakar, et al., Single cell manipulation using ferromagnetic composite micro-
transporters, Appl. Phys. Lett. 96 (4) (2010) 043705.
[7] R.B. Frankel, D.A. Bazylinski, D. Schüler, Biomineralization of magnetic iron min-
erals in bacteria, Supramol. Sci. 5 (3) (1998) 383–390.
[8] I.S. Khalil, et al., Control of magnetotactic bacterium in a micro-fabricated maze,
in: 2013 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), IEEE,
2013.
[9] J. Maddock, M. Alley, L. Shapiro, Polarized cells, polar actions, J. Bacteriol. 175 (22)
(1993) 7125–7129.
[10] W. Shi, B. Stocker, J. Adler, Effect of the surface composition of motile Escherichia
coli and motile Salmonella species on the direction of galvanotaxis, J. Bacteriol.
178 (4) (1996) 1113–1119.
[11] E. Steager, et al., Galvanotactic control of self-powered microstructures, in: ASME
2008 International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition, American So-
ciety of Mechanical Engineers, 2008.
[12] D.H. Kim, et al., Galvanotactic and phototactic control of Tetrahymena pyriformis as
a microfluidic workhorse, Appl. Phys. Lett. 94 (16) (2009) 163901.
[13] J.P. Armitage, Behavioural responses of bacteria to light and oxygen, Arch. Micro-
biol. 168 (4) (1997) 249–261.
[14] E. Steager, et al., Control of microfabricated structures powered by flagellated bacte-
ria using phototaxis, Appl. Phys. Lett. 90 (26) (2007) 263901.
[15] R. Dreyfus, et al., Microscopic artificial swimmers, Nature 437 (7060) (2005)
862–865.
[16] S. Khaderi, et al., Magnetically-actuated artificial cilia for microfluidic propulsion,
Lab Chip 11 (12) (2011) 2002–2010.
References xxxiii
[17] B.J. Nelson, I.K. Kaliakatsos, J.J. Abbott, Microrobots for minimally invasive
medicine, Annu. Rev. Biomed. Eng. 12 (2010) 55–85.
[18] S. Tottori, et al., Magnetic helical micromachines: fabrication, controlled swimming,
and cargo transport, Adv. Mater. 24 (6) (2012) 811–816.
[19] L. Zhang, et al., Controllable fabrication of SiGe/Si and SiGe/Si/Cr helical nanobelts,
Nanotechnology 16 (6) (2005) 655.
[20] L. Zhang, et al., Artificial bacterial flagella: fabrication and magnetic control, Appl.
Phys. Lett. 94 (6) (2009) 064107.
[21] A. Ghosh, P. Fischer, Controlled propulsion of artificial magnetic nanostructured pro-
pellers, Nano Lett. 9 (6) (2009) 2243–2245.
[22] A.G. Mark, et al., Hybrid nanocolloids with programmed three-dimensional shape
and material composition, Nat. Mater. 12 (9) (2013) 802–807.
[23] D. Schamel, et al., Nanopropellers and their actuation in complex viscoelastic media,
ACS Nano 8 (9) (2014) 8794–8801.
[24] U.K. Cheang, et al., Minimal geometric requirements for micropropulsion via mag-
netic rotation, Phys. Rev. E 90 (3) (2014) 033007.
[25] J. Happel, H. Brenner, Low Reynolds Number Hydrodynamics: with Special Appli-
cations to Particulate Media, Vol. 1, Springer, 1965.
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achiral microswimmers, in: ASME Dynamic Systems and Control Conference, San
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of microswimmers, Appl. Phys. Lett. 105 (8) (2014) 083705.
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magnetic nanoparticles, J. Nanopart. Res. 17 (3) (2015) 1–11.
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netotactic bacteria, Appl. Phys. Lett. 89 (23) (2006) 233904.
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xxxiv Historical overview
[37] M.J. Kim, et al., Real-time feedback control using artificial magnetotaxis with
rapidly-exploring random tree (RRT) for Tetrahymena pyriformis as a microbiorobot,
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[39] A. Becker, et al., Feedback control of many magnetized Tetrahymena pyriformis cells
by exploiting phase inhomogeneity, in: IEEE International Conference on Intelligent
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About this book
With this book, we present the reader with a mosaic of topics that cover
multiple aspects of microbiorobotics research. The chapters in this book
are independently written by the authors. Together, they cover theoretical,
biological, and synthetic microrobotics.
THEORETICAL MICROBIOROBOTICS
In theoretical microbiorobotics, we explore the swarm control and optimiza-
tion. One of the challenges in deploying microrobots is direct control of a
large number of actuators at the cellular level. In relation to that, several
chapters in this book are devoted to control at the “colony” level. Chapter 1
by Becker addresses the control of swarms of robots at the microscale using
global inputs for breaking symmetry. Chapter 2 by Amokrane, Belharet, and
Ferreira reviews the optimization of magnetic forces for guiding magnetic
nanoparticles for drug delivery in the inner ear.
BIOLOGICAL MICROROBOTS
In Biological microrobotics, we explore the current development of biolog-
ical microrobots that are manipulated using various external stimuli, includ-
ing magnetic field, electric field, and chemical cues. These microrobots are
classified based on their direct incorporation of live microorganisms for ac-
tuation and sensing. In Chapter 3, Han et al. discuss the development of an
active controllable tumor targeting bacteriobot. Khalil and Misra, in Chap-
ter 4, present the culturing methods of Magnetospirillum Magnetotacticum
for the fabrication of magnetotactic bacteria and the directional control of
such bacteria using external magnetic fields. Chapter 5 by Kim et al. reviews
the autonomous control of the bacteria-powered microrobots to achieve ob-
stacle avoidance. In Chapter 6, Jung reviews microorganism interaction with
boundary for the understanding of natural bio-locomotion and development
of bio-inspired microrobots.
SYNTHETIC MICROROBOTS
For synthetic microrobotics, we review microrobots with artificially fabri-
cated actuators. The development of synthetic microrobots is largely depen-
dent on micro- and nanofabrication technologies. While they do not possess
Microbiorobotics
Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. xxxv
xxxvi About this book
CHAPTER OUTLINE
1.1 Introduction 3
1.2 Breaking symmetry 6
1.3 Breaking symmetry with robot inhomogeneity 7
1.4 Breaking symmetry with obstacles 10
1.4.1 Nonprehensile manipulation 11
1.4.2 B LOCK W ORLD abstraction 11
1.4.3 Position control 11
1.5 Conclusion 14
References 15
1.1 INTRODUCTION
Micro- and nanorobotics hold great promise for precision material delivery
and for micro construction. According to Sitti et al. “One of the highest
potential scientific and societal impacts of small-scale (millimeter and sub-
millimeter size) untethered mobile robots would be their healthcare and
bioengineering applications” [1].
The flagship application for precision delivery is targeted therapy [2–6].
The current dominant practice in cancer treatment uses chemotherapy ap-
plied systemically, but has associated collateral damage to hair follicles and
other fast-growing tissue. Successful precision delivery would steer toxins
directly to tumors.
Health care is also a driver for micro construction, which includes mini-
mally invasive surgery [7–10], and tissue engineering [11–15]. The surgical
industry is rapidly switching to minimally invasive surgery, which places
Microbiorobotics
Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. 3
4 CHAPTER 1 Controlling swarms of robots with global inputs: Breaking symmetry
■ FIGURE 1.1 Scaling laws show that microrobots loose volume faster than surface area and much faster
than length as length decreases. This is significant because onboard power and computation is proportional to
volume, while forces required for propulsion are proportional to length and surface area.
surgical instruments at the end of long, slender kinematic chains and inserts
this apparatus through small incisions, called ports, in the body. There is
a desire to shrink the size and number of ports, but as the ports decrease
in size, the kinematic chain to the external world becomes less rigid. This
flexibility makes dexterity difficult and limits surgical forces.
Long before the advent of minimally invasive surgery, authors dreamed
of doing away with incisions and kinematic chains by shrinking the sur-
geon and tools into a compact submarine-like vehicle that could be piloted
through the many fluid-filled lumens of the body. This dream is in its in-
fancy. There has been notable progress with pill cameras, tiny cameras that
record a passage through the digestive track, from swallowing to expelling.
Shrinking the surgeon to make a capable autonomous robot is hard for two
main limitations: power and computation. As the length of the axis de-
creases, the surface area decreases as 2 , but the volume at 3 . This relation-
ship is plotted in Fig. 1.1. Nanocars are perhaps the smallest possible robots,
but at 1.4×1.7 nm they are smaller than the smallest transistors currently in
production (14 nm, beginning in 2014 by Intel). This limited volume ef-
fectively prevents onboard computation in nanorobots and severely limits
computation in microrobots. Power is limited for the same reason because
stored power is also a function of volume.
In the 2014 Disney movie Big Hero 6, the protagonist Hiro offers a pro-
found view into the future by manufacturing a swarm of 105 microbots.
Hiro controls them to self-assemble, build structures, and transport goods
and materials. While the “microrobots” of the film are fantasy, the ideas
1.1 Introduction 5
■ FIGURE 1.2 Uniform control inputs are ubiquitous in micro-/nanorobotics. (Top) Differential-drive robots
with broadcast control [38], microrobots controlled by shared electrical signal [17], light-driven nanocars [21].
(Bottom) r-one swarm under broadcast control [39], photophile kilobot robots [40], and magnetically steered
protozoa [41].
are rooted in reality. Today, micro- and nanorobots can be produced in ex-
tremely large quantities. Once a manufacturing process is developed, the
marginal cost of producing one additional robot is small. Microrobots can
be fabricated using microelectromechanical system (MEMS) techniques,
e.g. scratch-drive microrobots [16–19]. These robots are 60 by 250 mi-
crons in size, and can be mass-produced with many robots tiled on a single
silicon wafer. Perhaps the best examples of large populations are robotic
nanocars—synthetic molecules with integrated axles, rolling wheels, and
light-driven molecular motors, that are 1.4×1.7 nm in size [20–30]. These
are routinely produced in tremendous quantities—a batch the size of an as-
pirin tablet contained ≈ 4 × 1019 nanocars [21]. This dwarfs the number of
automobiles produced in the history of the world—90 million automobiles
were manufactured in 2014 [31]. Also, biological agents such as bacte-
ria [32–34,3,35] and paramecium [36,37] can be grown to achieve large
swarms.
Ideally, we would design a system that would allow each robot to be con-
trolled individually. However, next-generation micro- and nanorobotic sys-
tems have minimal onboard processing and communications bandwidth.
The lack of significant onboard computation makes autonomous operation
infeasible. Sending individual control signals to each robot requires com-
munications bandwidth that scales with population sizes. Because these
systems are only useful when their populations are immense, the bandwidth
required for individual unit control is impractical.
6 CHAPTER 1 Controlling swarms of robots with global inputs: Breaking symmetry
■ FIGURE 1.3 Example of uniform control inputs. (A) After feeding iron particles to ciliate eukaryon
(Tetrahymena pyriformis) and magnetizing the particles with a permanent magnet, the cells can be turned by
changing the orientation of an external magnetic field (B). Using two orthogonal Helmholz electromagnets, Kim
et al. demonstrated steering many living magnetized T. pyriformis cells [41,57]. All cells are steered by the same
global field (C). (D) Target applications are in biological vascular networks, such as the vasculature in this
cottonwood leaf. Photo: Royce Bair/Flickr/Getty Images.
Instead, this chapter focuses on systems with uniform control inputs. Some
representative systems are shown in Fig. 1.2: light-driven nanocars are
uniformly actuated by a certain wavelength of light, scratch-drive micro-
robots are uniformly actuated by varying the electric potential across a
substrate, and multi-robot systems are uniformly controlled by a broadcast
radio signal. Other uniform input examples include the magnetic resonant
microrobots of Tung et al. [42]; the magnetic helical swimming micro- and
nanorobots of Ghosh and Fischer [43], Tottori et al. [44], and Schürle and
Nelson et al. [45,46]; the magnetic microparticles of Diller and Floyd et
al. [47–49]; the magnetic milli-scale capsules of Vartholomeos et al. [50];
the magnetic particles studied by Snezhko et al. and Orduño et al. [51–54];
and the tumbling magnetic microrobots of [55]. Biological examples in-
clude the electric-field controlled paramecium studied by Hashimoto et
al. [36] and Hasegawa et al. [37], the electrokinetic and optically con-
trolled bacteria demonstrated by Steager et al. [32], the magnetic-field
controlled bacteria demonstrated by Martel et al. [33,34,3,35] and magnetic-
field steered protozoa demonstrated by Ou et al. [56]. Fig. 1.3 shows an
example of bacteria steered by a global control input provided by an exter-
nal magnetic field.
By Thomas Gillespie.
In the olden times, there were certain fixed occasions when labour
and frolic went hand in hand—when professional duty and
kindhearted glee mutually kissed each other. The “rockin’”
mentioned by Burns—
On Fasten e’en we had a rockin’—
I still see in the dim and hazy distance of the past. It is only under the
refractive medium of vigorous recollection that I can again bring up
to view (as the Witch of Endor did Samuel) those images that have
been reposing, “’midst the wreck of things that were,” for more than
fifty years. Yet my early boyhood was familiar with these social senile
and juvenile festivities. There still sits Janet Smith, in her toy-mutch
and check-apron, projecting at intervals the well-filled spindle into
the distance. Beside her is Isabel Kirk, elongating and twirling the yet
unwound thread. Nanny Nivison occupies a creepy on the further
side of the fire (making the third Fate!), with her shears. Around, and
on bedsides, are seated Lizzy Gibson, with her favoured lad; Tam
Kirkpatrick, with his jo Jean on his knee; Rob Paton the stirk-herd;
and your humble servant. And “now the crack gaes round, and who
so wilful as to put it by?” The story of past times; the report of recent
love-matches and miscarriages; the gleeful song, bursting unbid
from the young heart, swelling forth in beauty and in brightness like
the waters from the rock of Meribah; the occasional female
remonstrance against certain welcome impertinences, in shape of,
“Come now, Tam—nane o’ yer nonsense.” “Will! I say, be peaceable,
and behave yersel afore folk. ’Od, ye’ll squeeze the very breath out o’
a body.”
Till, in a social glass o’ strunt,
They parted off careering
On sic a night.
How few of the present generation have ever heard of this “lilting,”
except in song. It is the gayest and sunniest season of the year. The
young lambs, in their sportive whiteness, are coursing it, and
bleating it, responsive to their dams, on the hill above. The old ewes
on the plain are marching—
The labour much of man and dog—
Hay harvest, too, had its soft and delicate tints, resembling those
of the grain harvest. As the upper rainbow curves and glows with
fainter colouring around the interior and the brighter, so did the hay
harvest of yore anticipate and prefigure, as it were, the other. The
hay tedded to the sun; the barefooted lass, her locks floating in the
breeze, her cheeks redolent of youth, and her eyes of joy, scattering
or collecting, carting or ricking, the sweetly-scented meadow
produce, under a June sun and a blue sky!
Oh, to feel as I have felt,
Or be what I have been!—
the favoured lover, namely, of that youthful purity, now in its
fourteenth summer—myself as pure and all unthinking of aught but
affection the most intense, and feelings the most soft and
unaccountable.
Ah, little did thy mother think,
That day she cradled thee,
What lands thou hadst to travel in,
What death thou hadst to dee!
Poor Jeanie Johnston! I have seen her, only a few weeks ago, during
the sittings of the General Assembly, sunk in poverty, emaciated by
disease, the wife of an old soldier, himself disabled from work,
tenanting a dark hovel in Pipe’s Close, Castlehill of Edinburgh.
In the upper district of Dumfriesshire—the land of my birth, and of
all those early associations which cling to me as the mistletoe to the
oak, and which are equally hallowed with that druidical excrescence
—there are no coals, but a superabundance of moss; consequently
peat-fires are very generally still, and were, at the time of which I
speak, universally, made use of; and a peat-fire, on a cold, frosty
night of winter, when every star is glinting and goggling through the
blue, or when the tempest raves, and
There’s no a star in a’ the cary,
is the very soul of cheerfulness and comfort. But then peats must be
prepared. They do not grow in hedges, nor vegetate in meadows.
They must be cut from the black and consolidated moss; and a
peculiarly-constructed spade, with a sharp edge and crooked ear,
must be made use of for that purpose; and into the field of operation
must be brought, at casting-time, the spademen, with their spades;
and the barrowmen, and women, boys, and girls, with their barrows;
and the breakfast sowans, with their creamy milk, cut and crossed
into circles and squares; and the dinner stew, with its sappy potatoes
and gusty-onioned mutton fragments; and the rest at noon, with its
active sports and feats of agility; and, in particular, with its jumps
from the moss-brow into the soft, marshy substance beneath—and
thereby hangs my tale, which shall be as short and simple as
possible.
One of the loveliest visions of my boyhood is Nancy Morrison. She
was a year or so older than me; but we went and returned from
school together. She was the only daughter of a poor widow woman,
who supported herself in a romantic glen on the skirts of the
Queensberry Hills, by bleaching or whitening webs. In those days,
the alkalies and acids had not yet superseded the slower progress of
whitening green linen by soap-boiling, trampling, and alternate
drying in the sun, and wetting with pure running water. Many is the
time and oft that Nanny and I have wielded the watering-pan, in this
fairy, sunny glen, all day long. Whilst the humble-bee boomed past
us, the mavis occupied the thorn-tree, and the mother of Nanny
employed herself in some more laborious department of the same
process, Nanny and I have set us down on the greensward—in tenaci
gramine—played at chucks, “head him and cross him,” or some such
amusement. At school, Nanny had ever a faithful defender and
avenger in me; and I have even purloined apples and gooseberries
from the castle garden—and all for the love I bore “to my Nanny, oh!”
I know not that any one has rightly described a first love. It is not
the love of man and woman, though that be fervent and terrible; it is
not the love of mere boy and girlhood, though that be disinterested
and engrossing; but it is the love of the period of life which unites the
two. “Is there a man whose blood is warm within him” who does not
recollect it? Is there a woman who has passed through the novitiate
of fifteen, who has not still a distinct impression of the feeling of
which I speak? It is not sexual, and yet it can only exist betwixt the
sexes. It is the sweetest delusion under which the soul of a created
being can pass. It is modest, timid, retiring, bashful; yet, in absence
of the adored—in seclusion, in meditation, and in dreams—it is bold,
resolute, and determined. There is no plan, no design, no right
conception of cause; yet the effect is sure and the bliss perfect. Oh,
for one hour—one little hour—from the thousands which I have
idled, sported, dreamed away in the company of my darling school-
companion, Nancy!
Will Mather was about two years older than Nancy—a fine youth,
attending the same school, and evidently an admirer of Nancy. Mine
was the love of comparative boyhood; but his was a passion gradually
ripening (as the charms of Nancy budded into womanhood) into a
manly and matrimonial feeling. I loved the girl merely as such—his
eye, his heart, his whole soul were in his future bride. Marriage in no
shape ever entered into my computations; but his eager look and
heaving bosom bespoke the definite purpose—the anticipated
felicity. I don’t know exactly why, but I was never jealous of Will
Mather. We were companions; and he was high-souled and
generous, and stood my friend in many perilous quarrels. I knew that
my pathway in life was to be afar from that in which Nancy and Will
were likely to walk; and I felt in my heart that, dear as this beautiful
rosebud was to me, I was not man enough—I was not peasant
enough to wear it in my bosom. Had Nancy on any occasion turned
round to be kissed by me, I would have fled over muir and dale to
avoid her presence; and yet I had often a great desire to obtain that
favour. Once, indeed, and only once, did I obtain, or rather steal it.
She was sitting beside a bird’s nest, the young ones of which she was
feeding and cherishing—for the parent birds, by the rapacity of a cat,
had recently perished. As the little bills were expanding to receive
their food, her countenance beamed with pity and benevolence. I
never saw even her so lovely; so, in a moment, I had her round the
neck, and clung to her lips with the tenacity of a creature drowning.
But, feeling at once the awkwardness of my position, I took to my
heels, becoming immediately invisible amidst the surrounding
brushwood.
Such was Will Mather, and such was Nancy Morrison, at the
period of which I am speaking. We must now advance about two or
three years in our chronology, and find Will possessed of a piece of
information which bore materially on his future fortunes. Will was
an illegitimate child. His mother had kept the secret so well that he
did not know his father, though he had frequently urged her to reveal
to him privately all that she knew of his parentage. In conversing,
too, with Nancy, his now affianced bride, he had expressed similar
wishes; whilst she, with a becoming and feminine modesty, had
urged him not to press an aged parent on so delicate a point. At last
the old woman was taken seriously ill, and, on her death-bed and at
midnight, revealed to her son the secret of his birth. He was the son
of a proprietor in the parish, and a much-respected man. The youth,
so soon as he had closed his mother’s eyes, hurried off, amidst the
darkness, to the abode of his father, and, entering by a window, was
in his father’s bed-chamber and over his body ere he was fully awake.
“John Scott!” said the son, in a firm and terrible tone, grasping his
parent meantime convulsively round the neck, “John Scott of
Auchincleuch, I am thy son!”
The conscience-stricken culprit, being taken by surprise, and
almost imagining this a supernatural intimation from Heaven,
exclaimed, in trembling accents:
“But who are you that makes this averment?”
“I am thy son, father—oh, I am thy son!”
Will could say no more; for his heart was full, and his tears
dropped hot and heavy on a father’s face.
“Yes,” replied the parent, after a convulsive solemn sob—(O
Heaven! thou art just!)—“yes, thou art indeed my son—my long-
denied and ill-used boy—whom the fear of the world’s scorn has
tempted me, against all the yearnings of my better nature, to use so
unjustly. But come to my bosom—to a father’s bosom now, for I
know that voice too well to distrust thee.”
In a few months after this interesting disclosure, John Scott was
numbered with his fathers, and Will Scott (no longer Mather)
became Laird of Auchincleuch.
Poor Nancy was at first somewhat distressed at this discovery,
which put her betrothed in a position to expect a higher or genteeler
match. But there was no cause of alarm. Will was true to the
backbone, and would as soon have burned his Bible as have
sacrificed his future bride. After much pressing for an early day on
the part of the lover, it was agreed, at last, that the marriage should
take place at “Peatcasting Time,” and that Nancy should, for the last
time, assist at the casting of her mother’s peats.
I wish I could stop here, or at least proceed to give you an account
of the happy nuptials of Will Scott and Nancy Morrison, the
handsomest couple in the parish of Closeburn. But it may not be!
These eyes, which are still filled (though it is forty-eight years since)
with tears, and this pen, which trembles as I proceed, must attest and
record the catastrophe.
Nancy, the beautiful bride, and I (for I was now on the point of
leaving school for college) agreed to have a jump for the last time
(often had we jumped before) from a suitable moss-brow.
“My frolicsome days will sune be ower,” she cried, laughing; “the
Gudewife of Auchincleuch will hae something else to do than jump
frae the moss-brow; and, while my name is Nancy Morrison, I’ll hail
the dules, or jump wi’ the best o’ my auld playmates.”
“Weel dune, Nancy!” cried I; “you are now to be the wife o’ the
Laird o’ Auchincleuch, when your jumping days will be at an end;
and I am soon to be sent to college, where the only jump I may get
may be from the top of a pile of old black-letter folios—no half sae
gude a point of advantage as the moss-brow.”
“There’s the Laird o’ Auchincleuch coming,” cried Peggy Chalmers,
one of the peat-casters, who was standing aside, along with several
others. “He’s nae langer the daft Will Mather, wha liked a jump as
weel as the blithest swankie o’ the barnyard. Siller maks sair
changes; and yet, wha wad exchange the Will Scott of Auchincleuch,
your rich bridegroom, Nancy, for the Will Mather, your auld lover?
Dinna tempt Providence, my hinny! The laird winna like to see his
bride jumpin frae knowe to knowe like a daft giglet, within a week o’
her marriage.”
“Tout!” cried Nancy, bursting out into a loud laugh; “see, he’s awa
round by the Craw Plantin, and winna see us—and whar’s the harm if
he did? Come now, Tammie, just ae spring and the last, and I’ll wad
ye my kame against your cravat, that I beat ye by the length o’ my
marriage slipper.”
“Weel dune, Nancy!” cried several of the peat-casters, who, leaning
on their spades, stood and looked at us with pleasure and
approbation.
The Laird had, as Nancy said, crossed over by what was called the
Craw Plantin, and was now out of sight. To make the affair more
ludicrous (for we were all bent on fun), Nancy took out, from among
her high-built locks of auburn hair, her comb—a present from her
lover—and impledged it in the hands of Billy Watson, along with my
cravat, which I had taken off, and handed to the umpire.
“Here is a better moss-brow,” cried one, at a distance.
And so to be sure it was, for it was much higher than the one we
had fixed upon, and the landing-place was soft and elastic. Our
practice was, always to jump together, so that the points of the toes
could be measured when both the competitors’ feet were still fixed in
the moss. We mounted the mossbrow. I was in high spirits, and
Nancy could scarcely contain herself for pure, boisterous, laughing
glee. I went off, but the mad girl could not follow, for she was still
holding her sides, and laughing immoderately. I asked her what she
laughed at. She could not tell. She was under the influence of one of
those extraordinary cachinations that sometimes convulse our
diaphragms, without our being able to tell why, and certainly without
our being able to put a stop to them. Her face was flushed, and the
fire of her glee shone bright in her eye. I took my position again.
“Now!” cried I; and away we flew, and stuck deeply in the soft and
spongy moss.
I stood with my feet in the ground, that the umpire might come
and mark the distance. A loud scream broke on my ear. I looked
round, and, dreadful sight! I saw Nancy lying extended on the
ground, with the blood pouring out at her mouth in a large stream!
She had burst a blood-vessel. The fit of laughing which preceded her
effort to leap had, in all likelihood, distended her delicate veins, and
predisposed her to the unhappy result.
The loud scream had attracted the notice of the bridegroom, who
came running from the back of the Craw Plantin. The sight appalled
and stupefied him. He cried for explanation, and ran forward to his
dead or dying bride, in wild confusion. Several voices essayed an
explanation, but none were intelligible. I was as unable as the rest to
satisfy the unhappy man; but, though we could not speak intelligibly,
we could act, and several of us lifted her up. This step sealed her fate.
The change in her position produced another stream of blood. She
opened her eyes once, and fixed them for a moment on Will Scott.
She then closed them, and for ever.
I saw poor Nancy carried home. Will Scott, who upheld her head,
fainted before he proceeded twenty yards, and I was obliged to take
his place. I was almost as unfit for the task as himself; for I
reproached myself as the cause of her death. I have lived long. Will
the image of that procession ever pass from my mind? The blood-
stained moss-ground, the bleeding body, the trailing clothes, the
unbound locks, are all before me. I can proceed no further. Would
that I could stop the current of my thoughts as easily as that of this
feathered chronicler of sorrow! But—
There is a silent sorrow here,
A grief I’ll ne’er impart;
It breathes no sigh, it sheds no tear,
But it consumes my heart.
How goes the press? was, as usual, our first and most anxious
inquiry when the pilot boat came alongside to the westward of Lundy
Island. The brief but emphatic reply was, “As hot as blazes.” Knowing
therefore what we had to expect, the second mate and I, and one or
two others, applied to the captain to set us ashore at Ilfracomb, but
he would not listen to us. A double-reefed topsail breeze was blowing
from the westward, and a vigorous flood-tide was setting up channel,
enabling us to pass over the ground about fifteen knots. Such
advantages the captain was no way disposed to forego, so that there
was nothing for us but to trust to Providence and our stow holes. The
breeze flagged towards sunset, and it was not until an hour after
dusk that we dropped anchor in Kingroad.
As soon as the ship was brought up, I stepped in the main rigging
to lend a hand to furl the topsail, but had not reached the top, when I
heard the cabin boy calling out in an Irish whisper, “Bobstay, down,
down, the press-boat is alongside.” I was on deck in a twinkling, and
was springing to the after scuttle, when I found myself seized
violently by the arm. I trembled. It was the same boy that had called
me down. “They are already in the mizen chains,” said he; “to the
fore scuttle, or you are a gone man.”
Down the fore peak I went with the rapidity of lightning, and down
jumped three of the gang after me with little less velocity.
“Oho, my tight little fellow,” said one of them, thrusting his cutlass
down a crevice over my head; “I see you; out you must come, or here
goes an inch or two of cold steel into your bread-bag.”
I knew well that I was beyond his reach, and took care to let him
have all the talk to himself. They rummaged about all over the hold,
thrusting their cutlasses down every chink they could perceive, but
no one could they find give a single squeak. In about half an hour I
heard the well-known voice of the cabin boy calling me on deck. On
reaching the deck, I found that the gang had carried off three of our
hands, and had expressed their determination to renew their search
next day. Of course my grand object was to get ashore without delay.
The moment we anchored, the captain had gone off to Bristol to
announce his arrival to his owners; and as the mate and I were not
on good terms, he refused to allow me the use of the ship’s boat.
None of the watermen whose boats we hailed would come alongside,
because if they had been found assisting the crew of merchant vessels
to escape the press, they themselves would have been subjected to its
grasp. About midnight, however, one waterman came alongside, with
whom the love of money overcame the fear of danger, and he agreed
to pull the second mate, boatswain, and myself ashore, for half a
guinea each. I had brought from the West Indies a small venture in
sugar, a cask of which, about a hundredweight, I took into the boat
with me, to clear present expenses.
Shortly after we had shoved off, we found ourselves chased by a
long boat, which the waterman knew, by the sound of the oars, to be
the guard-boat. How we did pull! But it seemed in vain; we found it
would be impossible to reach the landing-place, so we pulled for the
nearest point of land. The moment the boat touched the ground, I
took the cask of sugar on my shoulder, and expecting solid ground
under the boat’s bows, jumped ashore. Instead of solid ground, I
found myself above the knees in mud. The guard-boat was within a
hundred yards of the shore, and what was to be done! All that a man
has will he give for his liberty, so away went the cask of sugar. Thus
lightened, I soon scrambled out, when the three of us scampered off
as fast as it was possible for feet to carry us. What became of the
waterman, or his boat, or my cask of sugar, we never knew; nor did
we think of stopping to breathe or look round us, till we reached the
town of Peel, where by a blazing fire and over a dish of beef-steaks,
and a few tankards of brown stout, we soon forgot our dangers and
our fears.
Our residence here, as far as liberty was concerned, was pretty
nearly on a par with prison residence. The second mate and I lodged
together, and during daylight we never durst show our faces, except,
perhaps, between four and six in the morning, when we sometimes
took a ramble in a neighbouring burying-ground, to read epitaphs;
and this, from the love of the English to poetical ones, was equivalent
to the loan of a volume of poetry. But Time’s pinions seemed in our
eyes loaded with lead, and we were often inclined to sing with the
plaintive swain,
Ah! no, soft and slow
The time it winna pass,
The shadow of the trysting thorn,
Is tether’d on the grass.
And had it not been for the kindly attentions of our landlord’s two
handsome daughters, to whose eyebrows we indited stanzas, I know
not how we would have got the time killed.
Snug as we thought ourselves, the press-gang had by some means
or other been put on the scent, and one day very nearly pounced on
us. So cautious had they been in their visit, that their approach was
not perceived until they were actually in the kitchen. Fortunately we
were at this time in an upper room, and one of the daughters rightly
judging of the purpose of their visit, flew upstairs to warn us of our
danger, and point out a place of safety. This place was above the
ceiling, and the only access to it was through a hole in the wall a little
way up the vent. It was constructed as a secure place to lodge a little
brandy or geneva, that sometimes found its way to the house,
without having been polluted with the exciseman’s rod. It was
excellently adapted to our purpose, and the entrance to it was
speedily pointed out by our pretty little guardian angel. Up the vent
we sprung like a brace of chimney sweeps, and had scarcely reached
our place of concealment, when the gang rushed upstairs, burst open
the door, and began to rummage every corner of the room. The bed
was turned out, the presses all minutely examined, and even the vent
itself underwent a scrutiny, but no seamen could be found.
“Tell us, my young lady, whereabout you have stowed away them
there fellows, for we knows they are in the house?”
“What fellows?” said the dear little girl, with a composure which
we thought it impossible for her to assume so soon after her violent
trepidation.
“Why, them there fellows as came ashore from one of the West
Indiamen t’other day; we knows they are here, and are determined to
have ’em.”