Control of a Micromanipulator (3rd Report, Mechanism and Control of a Microactuator)

Since micro manipulation is necessary for handling micro order small objects, actuators suitable for a micro manipulator have long been studied. Unlike the conventional actuators, this paper proposes a new electro static actuator with three degrees of freedom for this purpose. Because the tip of a micro manipulator needs multiple degrees of freedom, the proposed actuator can give three DOF, so that the micro manipulator can be improved to accomplish versatile skilful motions. The silicon based micro probe sensible to applied forces is attached at the tip of the actuators. Three modes of motion at the tip of the micro manipulator are demonstrated experimentally. Thus the proposed actuator demonstrates the feasibility of the micro actuator for the micro manipulator.