Abstract
This paper summarized and reviewed recent studies of micro transportation systems (MTS) in the MEMS (Micro Electro-Mechanical System) field. Micro transportation systems can be identified and classified into three categories based on the contact types between the objects and the actuators (i.e. liquid-based, solid- based and air-bearing type). Their advantages and disadvantages were also analyzed and compared. The au- thors have proposed and developed three types of solid-based MTS utilizing electrostatic comb-drive actua- tors and ratchet mechanisms to drive the micro container in straight and curved paths. These MTSs have been fabricated with silicon-on-insulator (SOI)-MEMS technology and tested successfully. In the near future, MTSs can be applied in different fields such as medicine (to classify and test blood cells), in bioengineering (to capture, sort and combine bio-cells, DNA), or in micro robot systems.
Highlights
By definition, a transportation system or a conveyance system is commonly used to transport or convey human, goods, devices etc. from a place to another.Transportation systems are very important in daily life, as most people have to move everyday or even every hour for work, study, or shopping etc
This paper summarized and reviewed recent studies of micro transportation systems (MTS) in the MEMS (Micro Electro-Mechanical System) field
Micro transportation systems can be identified and classified into three categories based on the contact types between the objects and the actuators
Summary
A transportation system or a conveyance system is commonly used to transport or convey human, goods, devices etc. from a place to another. A transportation system or a conveyance system is commonly used to transport or convey human, goods, devices etc. Let us consider the case when the transported objects are in micrometer or nanometer scale, such as bio cells, DNA, biomedicine samples, micro/nano beads, carbon nano tube etc. In order to transport or convey those small samples effectively, it is necessary to develop transportation systems having size proportionally to the size of the transported objects. Those transportation systems are refered to as Micro Transportation Systems (MTS). Micro transportation systems are transportation systems having the feature size in the micrometer scale, to move micro/nano objects from one place to another. The MTS should include fundamental features as in a macro transportation system, i.e. it should be able to move objects in straight and curved paths, to load and unload, or change the velocity of the objects in different applications
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