Micro‐telerobot for manipulation of microscopic objects immersed in a liquid layer

摘要

AbstractA micro‐telerobot for manipulating microscopic objects such as macromolecules and living microorganisms immersed in a liquid layer is proposed. The basic idea is to inject a small number of microscopic solid ferromagnetic or magnetostrictive particles into the liquid layer either before or after the insertion of the microscopic objects to be manipulated. They serve as end‐effectors for the micro‐telerobot. These end‐effectors are activated and steered by an electromagnetic probe located outside the liquid layer. A nonlinear mathematical model describing the dynamic behavior of the micro‐telerobot is developed. It is shown that the equilibrium state of an activated end‐effector is unstable. The use of a linear feedback control for stabilization is explored. Appropriate values for the feedback gains are obtained with the aid of computer simulation using the nonlinear mathematical model. The article concludes with a discussion of the physical implementation of the proposed micro‐telerobot. © 1993 John W