Abstract
Micromanipulation tasks are usually carried out using simplistic tools such as rigid probes and needles. More sophisticated tools such as grippers are fragile, expensive and non-dexterous. This paper addresses some of the main challenges of manipulation at the micrometer scale, including robots with limited degrees of freedom, small range of available tools and open-loop control due to a lack of position sensors. This work presents a preliminary investigation into the viability of using the Direct Laser Writing and Two-Photon Polymerization microfabrication techniques for creating flexible micrometer-scale end-effectors. A novel compliant end-effector design is presented for closed-chain cooperative manipulation involving multiple micromanipulator robots. A visual servoing framework was also developed to allow the user to control the robots in a closed loop manner, with haptic feedback to help match the user's input to the speed of the robots. Characterization of the new compliant manipulator was conducted and multi-robot configurations were tested to demonstrate the flexibility, robustness and increased workspace of the new design for both 2D and 3D object manipulation tasks.
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