Micromanipulation using a microassembly workstation with vision and force sensing

This paper reports our ongoing work on a microassembly workstation developed for efficient and robust 3D automated assembly of microobjects. The workstation consists of multiple view imaging system, two 3-DOF high precision micromanipulators, and a 3-DOF positioning stage with high resolution rotation control, force sensing probe and gripper, and the control software system. A hybrid control scheme using both vision and force sensory information is proposed for precise and dexterous manipulation of microobjects. A micromanipulation experiment that aims to locate the microspheres to the predefined configuration by using an integrated vision and force control scheme is successfully demonstrated to show the validity of the proposed methods.