9 accepted papers
In this letter, we propose a mobile microgripper actuated using laser optothermal and magnetic actuation in liquid environments. This hybrid actuation scheme allows the full decoupling between the in-plane positioning of the mobile microgripper and the actuation of its gripping mechanism, which redu
Non-contact micromanipulation tools have emerged as a promising solution for manipulating small components. However, they are mainly based on non-linear actuation principles requiring ad-hoc control strategies. This letter proposes non-linear control laws to actuate a non-contact manipulation system
Traditional robotic systems have proven to be instrumental in object manipulation tasks for automated manufacturing processes. Object manipulation in such cases typically involves transport, pick-and-place and assembly of objects using automated conveyors and robotic arms. However, the forces at mic
Helical swimmers, actuated by low-strength uniform rotating magnetic fields, can develop swimming and pumping in low Reynolds number environments. They could play an important role for future in vitro and in vivo biomedical microrobotic tasks. Studying how their morphology influences swimming and pu
The use of untethered miniature swimmers is a promising trend, especially in biomedical applications. These swimmers are often operated remotely using a magnetic field commonly generated using fixed coils that can suffer from a lack of compactness and heating issues. The analysis of the swimming cap
This paper proposes a new control-oriented model to compute the magnetic field created by a coil. A major challenge for untethered microscale mobile robotics is the control of objects for precise and fast displacements. In this work, we propose to use an alternative implementation of a model based o…
Several approaches are proposed in the literature to calculate the drag force, the electric field and the induced dielectrophoretic force. This paper analyzes the performances of various models for closed loop control of dielectrophoretic systems in comparison with experiments. This article compares…
This letter compares the controlled manipulation of micrometer size particles using thermocapillary convective flows generated by laser points or patterns. Such flows are generated when a surface tension stress is generated at the fluid/gas interface due to a thermal gradient. Laser heating allows t
This paper deals with the open-loop characterization of a micromanipulation system actuated by thermocapillary convective flows. Micrometric size objects placed at the air/liquid interface are actuated by heating the surface of the liquid using a laser. The heat generates a surface tension gradient…