A Robot for Cell Injection

Abstract

This work deals with modelling and experimenting of a compliant serial-parallel robot. Using Pseudo-Rigid-Body Modelling (PRBM) of elastic structures, a kinematics and stiffness model of a serial-parallel structure has been built. Several approaches for pre-tensioning of a parallel structure with elastic joints were developed in order to eliminate backlashes and improve the performance of its actuators. In this work a robot is designed to inject biological cells with size in the range of 10-30µm. The approaches used for pre-tensioning of the robot have been analysed and subjected to numerical evaluation. Assessing the mechanical parameters of the tensed manipulator has been performed using the following methods: PRBM and Finite Element Analysis (FEA). An experimental set-up for testing a robot prototype has been developed, using an optical system and correlation technique for digital image processing. The experimental results obtained are compared to data received from the numerical experiment.