The paper describes a novel control strategy for simultaneous manipulation of several microscale particles over a planar microelectrode array using dielectrophoresis. The approach is based on a combination of numerical nonlinear optimization, which gives a systematic computational procedure for finding the voltages applied to the individual electrodes, and exploitation of the intrinsic noise, which compensates for the loss of controllability when two identical particles are exposed to identical forces. Although interesting on its own, the proposed functionality can also be seen as a preliminary achievement in a quest for a technique for separation of two particles. The approach is tested experimentally with polystyrene beads (50 microns in diameter) immersed in deionized water on a flat microelectrode array with parallel electrodes. A digital camera and computer vision algorithm are used to measure the positions. Two distinguishing features of the proposed control strategy are that the range of motion is not limited to interelectrode gaps and that independent manipulation of several particles simultaneously is feasible even on a simple microelectrode array.
In this paper, we present a novel approach to noncontact micromanipulation by controlled dielectrophoresis (DEP). To steer micro-objects in the desired way, the solutions reported in the literature use either DEP cages or amplitude modulation of the voltages applied to the electrodes. In contrast, we modulate the phases, that is, we control the phase shifts of the voltages applied to the electrodes, which simplifies the hardware implementation and extends the set of feasible forces. Furthermore, we introduce an innovative micro-electrode array layout, composed of four sectors with parallel (colinear) electrodes, which is capable of inducing an arbitrary movement in the manipulation area and is easy to fabricate using just an affordable one-layer technology. We then propose a closed-loop cascade control strategy based on real-time numerical optimization and deploy it to our experimental set-up. Numerical simulations and laboratory experiments demonstrate the manipulation capabilities such as positioning and steering of one or several microscopic objects (microspheres with a diameter of 50 μm) and even bringing two objects together and then separating them again. The results from simulations and experiments are compared and the positioning accuracy is evaluated in the whole manipulation area. The error in position is 8 μm in the worst case, which corresponds to 16% of the microsphere size or 0.7% of the manipulation range.
The most popular modeling approach for dielectrophoresis (DEP) is the effective multipole (EM) method. It approximates the polarization-induced charge distribution in an object of interest by a set of multipolar moments. The Coulombic interaction of these moments with the external polarizing electric field then gives the DEP force and torque acting on the object. The multipolar moments for objects placed in arbitrary harmonic electric fields are, however, known only for spherical objects. This shape restriction significantly limits the use of the EM method. We present an approach for online (in real time) computation of multipolar moments for objects of arbitrary shapes having even arbitrary internal composition (inhomogeneous objects, more different materials, etc.). We exploit orthonormality of spherical harmonics to extract the multipolar moments from a numerical simulation of the polarized object. This can be done in advance (offline) for a set of external electric fields forming a basis so that the superposition principle can then be used for online operation. DEP force and torque can thus be computed in fractions of a second, which is needed, for example, in model-based control applications. We validate the proposed model against reference numerical solutions obtained using Maxwell stress tensor. We also analyze the importance of the higher-order multipolar moments using a sample case of a Tetris-shaped micro-object placed inside a quadrupolar microelectrode array and exposed to electrorotation. The implementation of the model in MATLAB and COMSOL is offered for free download.
In this paper we document a novel laboratory experimental platform for noncontact planar manipulation (positioning) of millimeter-scale objects using acoustic pressure. The manipulated objects are either floating on a water surface or rolling on a solid surface. The pressure field is shaped in real time through an 8-by-8 array (matrix) of ultrasonic transducers. The transducers are driven with square voltages whose phase-shifts are updated periodically every few milliseconds based on the difference between the desired and true (estimated from video) position. Numerical optimization is used within every period of a discrete-time feedback loop to determine the phase shifts for the voltages. The platform can be used as an affordable testbed for algorithms for non-contact manipulation through arrays of actuators as all the design and implementation details for the presented platform are shared with the public through a dedicated git repository. The platform can certainly be extended towards higher numbers of simultaneously yet independently manipulated objects and larger manipulation areas by the expanding the transducer array.
Mathematical models of dielectrophoresis play an important role in the design of experiments, analysis of results, and even operation of some devices. In this paper, we test the accuracy of existing models in both simulations and laboratory experiments. We test the accuracy of the most common model that involves a point-dipole approximation of the induced field, when the small-particle assumption is broken. In simulations, comparisons against a model based on the Maxwell stress tensor show that even the point-dipole approximation provides good results for a large particle close to the electrodes. In addition, we study a refinement of the model offered by multipole approximations (quadrupole, and octupole). We also show that the voltages on the electrodes influence the error of the model because they affect the positions of the field nulls and the nulls of the higher-order derivatives. Experiments with a parallel electrode array and a polystyrene microbead reveal that the models predict the force with an error that cannot be eliminated even with the most accurate model. Nonetheless, it is acceptable for some purposes such as a model-based control system design.
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