Applications of Piezo-Actuated Micro-Robots in Micro-Biology and Material Science

Author

Breguet, Jean-Marc ; Driesen, Walter ; Kaegi, Fabian ; Cimprich, Thomas

Author_Institution

Ecole Polytech. Fed. de Lausanne, Lausanne

fYear

2007

fDate

5-8 Aug. 2007

Firstpage

57

Lastpage

62

Abstract

This paper presents a few examples of manipulators and micro-robots based on piezo-actuators developed in the Laboratoire de Systemes Robotiques (LSRO) at EPFL. Three working principles was described (bender, inch-worm, inertial drives) and illustrated through examples for various applications (neurology, microbiology, electro discharge machining, nano-material testing and assembly of carbon nanotubes). Our goal is to demonstrate that an innovative mechanical design can make it possible to realize extremely simple manipulators working in the nanometer range for applications in micro-biology and nanotechnologies.

Keywords

assembling; biocontrol; electrical discharge machining; industrial manipulators; materials science; microrobots; nanotechnology; piezoelectric actuators; bender; carbon nanotubes assembling; electro discharge machining; inch-worm; inertial drives; innovative mechanical design; manipulators; material science; microbiology; nano-material testing; nanotechnology; neurology; piezo-actuated microrobots; Actuators; Capacitive sensors; Carbon nanotubes; Frequency; Machining; Manipulators; Materials science and technology; Nervous system; Robotics and automation; Robots; Micro-robotics; Nanotechnology; Piezo-actuator;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Mechatronics and Automation, 2007. ICMA 2007. International Conference on

Conference_Location

Harbin

Print_ISBN

978-1-4244-0828-3

Electronic_ISBN

978-1-4244-0828-3

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/ICMA.2007.4303516

Filename

4303516