Coordinative optical manipulation of multiple microscopic objects using micro-hands with multiple fingertips

Abstract

Current control techniques for optical manipulation of multiple micro-objects employ laser tweezers to directly trap and manipulate the target microscopic objects, and thus it is not capable of coordinating and manipulating micro-objects with arbitrary types in the micro-world, including large micro-objects, laser sensitive biological cells, or optically untrappable ones. In this paper, we propose a robotic control technique for optical manipulation of multiple microscopic objects by using micro-hands with multiple fingertips. In this control technique, several micro-hands are first formed by coordinating multiple optically trapped micro-particles that serve as the laser-driven fingertips, and then utilized for grasping and coordinative manipulation of multiple micro-objects. The proposed technique offers a robotic control framework for coordination and optical manipulation of multiple microscopic objects with arbitrary types in the micro-world, including large micro-objects, lasersensitive cells, or even untrappable microscopic objects.