-We investigate manipulation and active sensing by a pushing control system using only tactile feedback. The equations of motion of a pushed object are derived using a model of the object's limit surface, and we design a control system to translate and orient objects. The effectiveness of the proposed controller is confirmed through simulation and experiments. Active sensing of the object's center of mass is described.

This paper discusses force control for the tendon-sheath driving system typically used to actuate robotic finger joints. For a simple tendon-sheath model, the transmission characteristics were first formulated with the newly introduced factors apparent tendon-stifiess and equivalent backlash. An interesting aspect is that apparent tendon-stijfiess changes when the tendon is pulled or loosened, while tendon-stiffness itself keeps constant under the absence of friction. This unexpected behavior is confirmed by simulations as well as experiments. The authors also consider the effect of apparent tendon-stiffness on force control and show that the direction-dependent behavior of apparent tendon-stiffness eventually brings about a directiondependent response in the force control system without carefully designed control strategy.

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Minimal Fab System Photolithography has been developed for wafer patterning process without the requirement of a cleanroom. It consists of minimal resist coater, minimal maskless UV exposure, minimal mask aligner and minimal resist developer. We have proved in practice that the spin coating using minimal resist coater for a 0.5-inch wafer gives the identical result of resist thickness compared with 4-inch wafers without changes to a higher rotational speed. The minimal maskless UV exposure using Digital Light Processing (DLP) confirms that only one LED light source with the light intensity of 150 mW/cm 2 can expose over a 0.5-inch wafer in a few minutes. The minimal mask aligner is developed for a high speed exposure within 5-20 seconds. The aligner also uses a LED light source that can produce the light intensity of 14 mW/cm 2. The present photoresist resolution for the maskless UV exposure and the mask aligner are 1 µm and 2 µm, respectively. The minimal developer has minimized its consumption of developing agents. Due to the surface tension, a volume of developing agent is kept on the wafer surface for slowly spinning to stimulate the developing process. The developing time is 20% saved from that of the conventional puddle development.