Related papers: Micromanipulation System for Microscale Magnetic C…
Optical tweezers, with their high precision, dynamic control, and non-invasiveness, are increasingly important in scientific research and applications at the micro and nano scales. However, manipulation by optical tweezers is challenged by…
Soft elastic composite materials containing particulate rigid inclusions in a soft elastic matrix are candidates for developing soft actuators or tunable damping devices. The possibility to reversibly drive the rigid inclusions within such…
Force and proximity sensors are key in robotics, especially when applied in collaborative robots that interact physically or cognitively with humans in real unstructured environments. However, most existing sensors for use in robotics are…
Magnetic navigation offers wireless control over magnetic objects, which has important medical applications, such as targeted drug delivery and minimally invasive surgery. Magnetic navigation systems are categorized into systems using…
This paper presents a multifunctional connector based on electro-permanent magnet (EPM) technology, integrating self-alignment, mechanical coupling, fluid transfer, and data communication within a compact SLA-3D printed structure.…
Modular and reconfigurable robotic systems have been designed to provide a customized solution for the non-repetitive tasks to be performed in a constrained environment. Customized solutions are normally extracted from task-based…
We experimentally demonstrate trapping a microdroplet with an optical tweezer and then enabling it as a microresonator by bringing it close to a tapered fiber coupler. Our tweezers facilitated the tuning of the coupling from the…
We study the formation and dynamics of dipolar rings composed by microscopic ferromagnetic ellipsoids, which self-assemble in water by switching the direction of the applied field. We show how to manipulate these fragile structures and…
External magnetic fields are known to attract and orient magnetically responsive colloidal particles. In the case of 2D microplatelets, rotating magnetic fields are typically used to orient them parallel to each other in a brick-and-mortar…
In this paper, an adaptive nonlinear strategy for the motion and force control of flexible manipulators is proposed. The approach provides robust motion control until contact is detected when force control is then available--without any…
The contactless selective manipulation of individual objects at the microscale is powerfully enabled by acoustical tweezers based on acoustical vortices [Baudoin et al., Sci. Adv., 5:eaav1967 (2019)]. Nevertheless, the ability to assemble…
Three-dimensional harmless contactless manipulation and assembly of micro-objects and micro-organisms would open new horizons in microrobotics and microbiology, e.g. for microsystems assembly or tissue engineering. In our previous work…
This paper presents a device implementing a closed tactile loop for musical interaction, based on a small freely held magnet which serves as the medium for both input and output. The component parts as well as an example of its programmable…
This paper explores the concept of external magnetic control for vine robots to enable their high curvature steering and navigation for use in endoluminal applications. Vine robots, inspired by natural growth and locomotion strategies,…
In this paper, a contactless linear slider for precision positioning able to operate in cryogenic environments is presented. The device, based on superconducting magnetic levitation, does not present contact between the slider (composed of…
In recent years, there has been a notable increase in the significance of active mechanical metamaterials capable of being remotely manipulated through changes in external stimuli. While research in this area has achieved considerable…
We consider a cantilever beam which possesses a possibly non-uniform permanent magnetization, and whose shape is controlled by an applied magnetic field. We model the beam as a plane elastic curve and we suppose that the magnetic field acts…
Holographic Optical Tweezers (HOT) are powerful tools that can manipulate micro and nano-scale objects with high accuracy and precision. They are most commonly used for biological applications, such as cellular studies, and more recently,…
We present a novel experimental setup in which magnetic and optical tweezers are combined for torque and force transduction onto single filamentous molecules in a transverse configuration to allow simultaneous mechanical measurement and…
Reluctance actuators are preferred for high-precision applications. Due to resistive losses in the coils, the accuracy of this type of actuator will reduce in quasi-static operation mode within a vacuum environment. By using soft permanent…