Microrobots

Quan Zhou
Robot?
 Definitions
◦ Word robot was coined by the Czech playwright Karel
Capek in his play Rossum's Universal Robots in 1920’s,
robota = forced labor, worker
◦ “A reprogrammable, multifunctional manipulator designed
to move material, parts, tools, or specialized devices
through various programmed motions for the performance
of a variety of tasks”, Robot Institute of America, 1979
 Industrial robots vs. service robots
Micro/nano Robot
 Characteristics of Microrobot
◦ reprogrammable behavior (as in industrial robots) or
◦ adaptivity to unpredicted circumstances (as in advanced
robots for unstructured environments, service robots) or
◦ remote controllability (as in teleoperated robots)
 Basically the only difference between a macro and
micro/nano robot is the scale of the application
domain
 Micro/nano robots extend human capabilities to the
micro/nano scale
Classification
 With regard to size/capabilities
◦ miniature robots
◦ microrobots
◦ nanorobots
 Functional classification
◦ fixed / mobile
 energy source on-board / not on-board
◦ wires / wireless
 Task-specific classification
Classification with regard to size
 Miniature robots
◦ size: few cubic centimeters
◦ workspace and forces comparable to
those of fine human manipulations
◦ fabrication by assembling conventional
miniature components and
micromechanics
◦ majority of today’s microrobots belong
to this class
In comparison – Mini robots
Classification with regard to size ...
 Microrobots
◦ size: few hundred cubic micrometers
◦ fabricated by means of micromachining
technologies (such as bulk or surface
micromachining or LIGA technology)
◦ consists of microactuators, sensors and
signal processing circuits
◦ scaling effect should be taken into
account when designing actuators, for
example
◦ applications: cell manipulation, assembly
Classification with regard to size ...
 Nanorobots
◦ size: few hundred nanometers to a
couple of micrometers, i.e. same as the
scale of biological cells
◦ conventional mechanical principles (for
driving and manipulation) are not
applicable here but electrochemical
means could be used (mimicking
biological organisms)
◦ solid-state technology is not currently
suitable for nano-scale fabrication but
polymer chemistry techniques can
provide a solution
 Functional classification
Classification criteria
– mobility
– autonomy
– control (wires)

CU - control unit
PS - power supply
AP - actuators for
positioning

AO - actuators for
operation
Task-specific classification
 Ratio C between the physical
dimensions of the microrobot and
its workspace
◦ C >> 1: stationary micromanipulation
systems
◦ C << 1: micro mobile robots
Applications
 Scientific research in micro/nano technology
 Biotechnology and microsurgery
 Micromachining and microassembly
 Inspection and quality control
 Environment monitoring
 Military and space application
…
Micromanipulation
 Merrian-Webster dictionary
◦ the word micromanipulation first appeared in 1921
◦ the meaning is “the technique or practice of
microdissection and microinjection”
◦ Nanomanipulation – a natural extension
 The word is now used in a much wider
sense
◦ refer to generic manipulation of microscopic objects
 Picking
 Placing
 Positioning
 Injection
 Dissection
 …
 Challenges
◦ Precise, fast, dexterous operation
 Applications
◦ Microassembly
◦ Microsurgery
◦ Biotechnology operations
◦ …
Micromanipulation (cont.)
 Micromanipulation is normally carried out
by a micromanipulation system
◦ the size of which is not necessary microscopic.
 Micromanipulation system
◦ can be a manually operated device or an
automatically controlled instrument.
 Early micromanipulation was carried out by
manual instruments.
 Robotic based micromanipulation was not
widely researched until late 1980s.
 Many prototypes of micromanipulators
have been reported for different
applications since then
Types of Micromanipulation
 Contact methods, mostly mechanical
 Non-contact methods
◦ optical pressure
◦ acoustic and ultrasonic wave
◦ magnetic field
◦ electrical field
 Combination of several methods
Environment of Micromanipulation
 Air, liquid or vacuum (often in a SEM).
 Microassembly applications
◦ Mostly in the air
◦ in vacuum
◦ or liquid
 Biological applications
◦ often in liquid
Application of Micro/nano Manipulation
 Assembly
◦ microrobotic structures
◦ MEMS components
 Minimally invasive examination and
surgery
 Minimally invasive
micromanipulation of microbe
 Intra-cytoplasmic sperm injection
 Ophthalmic surgery
 Manipulation of DNA
 Manipulation of carbon nanotube
 manipulation of micro particles
3DOF Piezohydrualic
micromanipulator

TUT/TKK 1997, Kallio & Zhou et al

Microhandling and Microassembly (TKK)
Single cell micromanipulation
(TTY/TKK)
Microhandling and inspection (TKK)
Microrobotics and Microassembly
(Nelson/ETH Zurich)
Precision platforms and tools
(EPFL/Lausanne)
Micromachines and Microfactory (a Joint
Project in Japan)
Nanohandling robots
(ROBOSEM/EU)
Nanohandling
(Dong & Nelson/ETH Zurich)
SEM Nano Indentation
(ROBOSEM/EU)

 Advantages of in situ indentation

P max

 Possibility to test a specific point or region of interest.

Load on Sample P
Loading
 Ability to correlate image and indentation graph in real time. S

 Helps to understand singularities on indentation graphs. Unloading

hf

hmax
Displacem ent into Surface h
Mobile Microrobot
 Microrobots
◦ Miniaturized robots
 Centimeter to millimeter scale (sometime mini robots)
 Micro scale (most official microrobos)
 Nano scale (often nanorobots)
◦ Mobile
 The accessible space/volume is greater than the robot
itself
 Not stationary (not attached to a base)
Major Components
 Locomotion  Power suppliers
◦ Stick-and-slip/inertia-based walking ◦ Batteries
◦ Crawling ◦ Solar cell
◦ Wheeled ◦ Wireless supply
◦ Flying ◦ Energy harvesting
◦ Swimming  Communication
◦ … ◦ Wired
 Sensors ◦ Wireless
◦ Collision detector  Control and Automation
◦ Location sensor ◦ On-board electronics
 Global
◦ Controller
 Marker-based
◦ Teleoperation and Automation
◦ Other sensors
 Tools
Nanowalker (Martel/MIT)
MiCRON Mobile Robots (MiCRON/EU)
Mobile Microrobots (Sitti/CMU)
In-pipe wireless mobile microrobot
(Desno/Japan)
Underwater Microrobot
(Fukuda/Nagoya)
Flying Micro Insects (Fearing, UC
Berkerly & Wood/Harvard)
Hopping Microrobots
(a) (b) (c) (d) (e)

50 mm

(f) (g) (h) (i) (j)

EPFL 6mm

NPU/TKK
Bacterial Driven Robot and MRI-Robot
(Martel/Montréal)
Medical Diagnostics Capsule
(TKK)
 In vivo Robot

-DC motor driven

-Multi leg
-By Menciassi &
Dario, SSSUP
Magnetic

Nelson, ETH
MRI system in bood vessels
 MRI refers to Magnetic resonance
imaging
 MRI system as a mean of
propulsion for a small robot for
applications in blood vessels
 the blood vessels in human
◦ range from 25mm in diameter to 8 m
◦ the blood flow at exit of the
heart:1120mm/s
 principle:
◦ strong and variable magnetic field of the
MRI system will exert three dimensional
propulsion force to a ferromagnetic core
which will be embedded onto a small
robot.
Martel
Living-Being Powered

Martel
Magnetic Field

Sendoh 2003
Swarm Intelligence
CNT Nanorobot

NanoMa
Further Study
 Advanced course:
◦ AS-74.3178 Micro- and Nanorobotics, P

 International Micro Robot Maze Contest

 Nano soccer
Nanosoccer
http://www.nist.gov/public_affairs/calmed/nanosoccer.html