Micropart feature design for visually servoed microassembly

This project develops rules for micropart design to aid in device assemblability with visual servoing techniques by ensuring that the microparts can be easily tracked and controlled using vision feedback. A criterion is presented that estimates part trackability based on the visual appearance of the part. This criterion is then used to microfabricate features to improve part trackability and hence, the assemblability of the device. The criterion considers the feature appearance when the part lies out of the optical system´s depth-of-field. A Fourier optics based approach is used to simulate the visual appearance of microparts represented by CAD models using high resolution optical systems. This simulation is used to automatically design microfabricated features on microparts. These features are used to estimate the tracking accuracy of the MEMS parts to subpixel levels using interpolation techniques in optical flow based tracking. This allows MEMS parts to be assembled with a precision on the order of 20 nm with high magnification lens, using visual servoing strategies