Design and modeling of a high accuracy three degrees of freedom MEMS manipulator

Abstract

A new design for a high accuracy, 3-degree of freedom (DOF) MEMS manipulator is proposed. The 3-DOF robotic manipulator is to be used for biomedical applications such as cell probing, tissue sampling, neuron signal reading and drug delivery, in which high accuracy and repeatability of positioning is required. While sensing or imaging elements are not available in the integration with the manipulator to provide feedback for positioning, we investigated a calibration approach to minimize the positioning errors. In-plane and vertical MEMS thermal actuators are chosen to perform the required tasks. The modeling of the thermal actuators was first studied and the results match with experimental results. A calibration algorithm is implemented to allow the minimization of accumulated motion errors. The algorithm was successfully applied to the manipulator and results were obtained. A MATLAB script was written to simplify the calibration procedure. Problems faced in the design and potential solutions will be also discussed.