Microfabricated grippers could be useful for the manipulation of nanoscopic and microscopic samples. A survey is presented of the force requirements for a microgripper to complete pick-and-place nanomanipulation tasks. We then demonstrate in situ pick-and-place operations of nanowires inside a scanning electron microscope using microfabricated electrostatically actuated grippers, and compare the theoretically estimated force requirements with the results of experimental tests of picking up nanowires to evaluate how grippers and strategies for nanomanipulation can be optimized.
Special micromanipulators are needed to manipulate very small objects. Most micromanipulators are specialized to perform a task they are designed for, but are too inflexible to adapt to other problems. Therefore, flexible newly developed mobile microrobots are presented with precision in the sub-micrometer range while offering a macroscopic workspace. The main parts of each mobile microrobot, the mobile platform, the manipulator and end effectors, are explained in detail, with some experimental data given.The new driving principle of the mobile platform allows high resolution, low energy consumption, which makes an on-board power supply feasible and a maximum velocity of several mm/s.Useful human interfaces are needed for a successful teleoperation. The most important interface next to the vision feedback is a haptic interface. The paper presents a newly developed haptic interface for a micromanipulation station. The mechanical design and the design of the control system of the haptic interface are discussed in details. The control architecture of the micromanipulation station and the integration of the haptic device into the micromanipulation station are presented.
Current research activities on the development of a system for transport and manipulation of biological cells with microrobots are described. If single cells in liquid are to be placed on a grid or sorted by cell type, having a system that can automatically lift, transport and release cells can significantly speed up such a tedious task. Therefore, a system is being developed that can automatically sort different cells by transporting them to different repositories. A method to recognise different types of cells is also being developed. The system consists of several components; a motorised inverted microscope, several different microrobots and a software architecture to control the whole cell manipulation workstation and to provide a user interface.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.