Microfabricated bistable module for digital microrobotics.

Qiao Chen (1) , Yassine Haddab (1) , Philippe Lutz (1)

1 FEMTO-ST - Franche-Comté Électronique Mécanique, Thermique et Optique - Sciences et Technologies (UMR 6174)

High precision microrobots are needed more and more to perform micro/nanomanipulation and microassembly tasks in various environments like microrobotic stations, electronic microscopes (SEM, TEM), etc. Current microrobots are based on the use of smart materials to perform proportional or incremental actuation. To avoid the main drawbacks of these microrobots (non linearities, integration of sensors, robust control, energy consumption, sensitivity to noise), we propose a new type of microrobots, called digital microrobots, based on microfabricated bistable modules. The study presented in this paper is dedicated to the microfabricated bistable modules, notably the structure and the actuators design and characterization. The results open a new paradigm in the field of microrobotics leading to open loop control and the design of various kinematics adapted to the microworld. Moreover, no external energy is required to maintain the microrobot in its position.

Mots clés: Microrobotics; bistable mechanism; thermal actuator; open-loop control of robot.; open-loop control of robot

Domaines: Micro et nanotechnologies/Microélectronique

Qiao Chen, Yassine Haddab, Philippe Lutz. Microfabricated bistable module for digital microrobotics.. Journal of Micro-Nano Mechatronics, 2011, 6 (1-2), pp.1-12. ⟨10.1007/s12213-010-0025-2⟩. ⟨hal-00558415⟩