A control method for steering individual particles inside liquid droplets actuated by electrowetting

Abstract

An algorithm is developed that allows steering of individual particles inside electrowetting systems by control of actuators already present in these systems. Particles are steered by creating time varying flow fields that carry the particles along their desired trajectories. Results are demonstrated using an experimentally validated model developed in ref. . We show that the current UCLA electro-wetting-on-dielectric (EWOD) system contains enough control authority to steer a single particle along arbitrary trajectories and to steer two particles, at once, along simple paths. Particle steering is limited by contact angle saturation and by the small number of actuators that are available to actuate the flow in practical electrowetting systems.