Although tissue and cell manipulation nowadays is a common task in biomedical analysis, there are still many different ways to accomplish it, most of which are still not sufficiently general, inexpensive, accurate, efficient or effective. Several problems arise both for in vivo or in vitro analysis, such as the maximum overall size of the device and the gripper jaws (like in minimally-invasive ...

The manipulation of biological objects is a key technology necessary for many new applications in Bio-MEMS. In this paper, we will report on our preliminary experimental work in using an Ionic Conducting Polymer Film (ICPF) to develop a biological cell robotic gripper. The ability of ICPF actuators to give large deflection with small input voltage (~5V) will allow many new applications to be de...

Smart materials have been widely used for control actuation. A robotic hand can be equipped with artificial tendons and sensors for the operation of its various joints, mimicking human hand motions. The motors in the robotic hand could be replaced with novel electroactive polymer (EAP) actuators. In the three-finger gripper proposed in this paper, each finger can be actuated individually so tha...

ABSTRACT Photonics is a field that straddles both the macro and micro worlds. It largely deals with macro-scale devices, but many of these require sub-micron-scale precision in assembly. This makes it a very interesting application domain. We describe a microgripper for microassembly of photonic devices and micro-exploration of the properties of sub-micron attachment means (such as solder and U...

This paper describes the development of a miniature assembly cell for micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS). Potential applications of the developed assembly cell are assembly of miniature optical systems, integration of optoelectronics, such as laser diodes with CMOS, and epitaxial lift-off (ELO) of thin films used in optoelectronic devices. The cell utilizes a transparent electrostatic gripp...

When parts to be handled are less than one millimeter in size, adhesive forces between gripper and object can be signiicant compared to gravitational forces. These adhesive forces arise primarily from surface tension , Van der Waals, and electrostatic attractions and can be a fundamental limitation to part handling in a gas environment. While it is possible to fabricate miniature versions of co...

A soft robotic gripper for a Tele-operable In-Home Robotic Assistant (TIHRA) for the mobility impaired is presented. This gripper is inspired by the Fin Ray® Effect, which is derived from the physiology of fish fins. The gripper fingers are soft and triangular with hard crossbeams that buckle and deform in to conform around objects. The fingers of the TIHRA were altered from the original Fin Ra...

Micro system technology is a relatively new scientific research that deals with the development and study of properties of materials in micro dimensions. Micro-grippers are widely used in switching, positioning, and assembling micron sized components in micro-robotics. In this study, the static and dynamic behavior of visco-elastic Micro-Tweezers under the thermal and electrostatic field is...