The objective of this work is to optimize the performance of a constant flow parallel mechanical displacement micropump, which has parallel pump chambers and incorporates passive check valves. The critical task is to minimize the pressure pulse caused by regurgitation, which negatively impacts the constant flow rate, during the reciprocating motion when the left and right pumps interchange their role of aspiration and transfusion. Previous works attempt to solve this issue via the mechanical design of passive check valves. In this work, the novel concept of overlap time is proposed, and the issue is solved from the aspect of control theory by implementing a RBF neural network trained by both unsupervised and supervised learning. The experimental results indicate that the pressure pulse is optimized in the range of 0.15 - 0.25 MPa, which is a significant improvement compared to the maximum pump working pressure of 40 MPa.

They may at first appear to be rather innocuous floating plastic blocks, but these electronic cubes can join together like a swarm of Lego blocks to create robots capable of tackling almost any task. Much like the cooperative machines in science fiction TV series Transformers and the Power Rangers, the robotic cubes assemble to form larger robots according to their task. Engineers who created the aquatic robots said they could be used to perform underwater search and rescue operations. Engineers have developed robots that can swim through water and join together to form different shapes (pictured). Each module has four micropumps that allow it to move around independently in the water.