A large stepwise motion electrostatic actuator for a wireless microrobot

Basset, Philippe; Kaiser, Andreas; Bigotte, P.; Collard, Dominique; Buchaillot, L.

doi:10.1109/memsys.2002.984344

Cited by 23 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 3 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The large capacitance of the tested DMMS induces a maximum operating frequency of 20 Hz. According to the finite element method (FEM) results of the actuator's x displacement [26], such a DMMS-based microrobot supporting a load of 2.5 µN is expected to move at a speed of 4.8/3 µm·s…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Complete System for Wireless Powering and Remote Control of Electrostatic Actuators by Inductive Coupling

Basset

Kaiser

Legrand

et al. 2007

IEEE/ASME Trans. Mechatron.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…They correspond to the motion system of the microrobot. These DMMS are made of modified inverted scratch drive actuators (SDA) [24], [26]. This section presents the principle of the actuator and its fabrication process.…”

Section: Dmmsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Complete System for Wireless Powering and Remote Control of Electrostatic Actuators by Inductive Coupling

Basset

Kaiser

Legrand

et al. 2007

IEEE/ASME Trans. Mechatron.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…Past systems have delivered power through vibration [12], through photothermal transduction [2], [3], through inductive coupling [4], and electrically through gold bonding wire [6], [7], [9]. The capacitively coupled electrostatic power delivery mechanism that we described in [1] is well-suited to the untethered devices presented in the current paper.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 93%

An Untethered, Electrostatic, Globally Controllable MEMS Micro-Robot

Donald

Levey

McGray

et al. 2006

J. Microelectromech. Syst.

298

171

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract-We present an untethered, electrostatic, MEMS micro-robot, with dimensions of 60 m by 250 m by 10 m. The device consists of a curved, cantilevered steering arm, mounted on an untethered scratch drive actuator (USDA). These two components are fabricated monolithically from the same sheet of conductive polysilicon, and receive a common power and control signal through a capacitive coupling with an underlying electrical grid. All locations on the grid receive the same power and control signal, so that the devices can be operated without knowledge of their position on the substrate. Individual control of the component actuators provides two distinct motion gaits (forward motion and turning), which together allow full coverage of a planar workspace. These MEMS micro-robots demonstrate turning error of less than 3.7 mm during forward motion, turn with radii as small as 176 m, and achieve speeds of over 200 m sec with an average step size as small as 12 nm. They have been shown to operate open-loop for distances exceeding 35 cm without failure, and can be controlled through teleoperation to navigate complex paths. The devices were fabricated through a multiuser surface micromachining process, and were postprocessed to add a patterned layer of tensile chromium, which curls the steering arms upward. After sacrificial release, the devices were transferred with a vacuum microprobe to the electrical grid for testing. This grid consists of a silicon substrate coated with 13-m microfabricated electrodes, arranged in an interdigitated fashion with 2-m spaces. The electrodes are insulated by a layer of electron-beam-evaporated zirconium dioxide, so that devices placed on top of the electrodes will experience an electrostatic force in response to an applied voltage. Control waveforms are broadcast to the device through the capacitive power coupling, and are decoded by the electromechanical response of the device body. Hysteresis in the system allows on-board storage of = 2 bits of state information in response to these electrical signals. The presence of on-board state information within the device itself allows each of the two device subsystems (USDA and steering arm) to be individually addressed and controlled. We describe this communication and control strategy and show necessary and sufficient conditions for voltage-selective actuation of all 2 system states, both for our devices ( = 2), and for the more general case (where is larger.)[1586]

show abstract

“…Past systems have delivered power through vibration [14], photo-thermal transduction [1], inductive coupling [2], and electrically through gold bonding wire [3]. The capacitively-coupled electrostatic power delivery mechanism that we described in [6,7] is well-suited to the untethered devices presented in the current paper.…”

Section: Related Workmentioning

confidence: 83%

“…While these active components often include thin-film MEMS actuators, the chassis is a macro-scale part such as, for example, a silicon die. For this reason, these micro-robots are often referred to as "walking chips" [1][2][3][4][5].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Steerable, Untethered, 250 × 60 µm MEMS Mobile Micro-Robot

Donald

Levey

McGray

et al.

Springer Tracts in Advanced Robotics

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract. We present a steerable, electrostatic, untethered, MEMS micro-robot, with dimensions of 60 µm by 250 µm by 10 µm. This micro-robot is 1 to 2 orders of magnitude smaller in size than previous micro-robotic systems. The device consists of a curved, cantilevered steering arm, mounted on an untethered scratch drive actuator. These two components are fabricated monolithically from the same sheet of conductive polysilicon, and receive a common power and control signal through a capacitive coupling with an underlying electrical grid. All locations on the grid receive the same power and control signal, so that the devices can be operated without knowledge of their position on the substrate and without constraining rails or tethers. Control and power delivery waveforms are broadcast to the device through the capacitive power coupling, and are decoded by the electromechanical response of the device body. Individual control of the component actuators provides two distinct motion gaits (forward motion and turning), which together allow full coverage of a planar workspace (the robot is globally controllable). These MEMS micro-robots demonstrate turning error of less than 3.7 • /mm during forward motion, turn with radii as small as 176 µm, and achieve speeds of over 200 µm/sec, with an average step size of 12 nm. They have been shown to operate open-loop for distances exceeding 35 cm without failure, and can be controlled through teleoperation to navigate complex paths.

show abstract

A large stepwise motion electrostatic actuator for a wireless microrobot

Cited by 23 publications

References 3 publications

Complete System for Wireless Powering and Remote Control of Electrostatic Actuators by Inductive Coupling

Complete System for Wireless Powering and Remote Control of Electrostatic Actuators by Inductive Coupling

An Untethered, Electrostatic, Globally Controllable MEMS Micro-Robot

A Steerable, Untethered, 250 × 60 µm MEMS Mobile Micro-Robot

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About