Sensorless Force-controlled Magnetic Micromanipulation Technology

微操作和微组装处理微妙的环境。磁悬浮机械手可以提供突破性的解决方案，并以无尘、无摩擦操作的优势执行这些任务。机械手施加在这些微小而敏感的物体上的力应该得到精确控制，以避免任何可能的损坏。因此，应采用力传感器，但在处理微小物体时，力传感器的实现具有挑战性，可能不可行。本提案旨在通过开发一种新型的磁悬浮微操作器（MLM）来克服这些缺点。MLM操作无尘，无摩擦，并受益于力感测方法，而无需使用任何实际的力传感器。所提出的MLM技术可以应用于各种应用，如结构微组装，洁净室操作，器件制造和包装。此外，由于MLM推进是通过传递磁能产生的，因此它能够操纵完全密封的外壳内的物体。在密封外壳中远程操纵微型机器人的能力允许诸如化学和生物学的领域在密封实验内完全控制的灵活性（例如，真空外壳）。这是敏感的生态系统实验以及涉及有害物质的实验的理想选择。例子包括基因操作和遗传物质的生物危害处理（例如，重组DNA、细菌、病毒、寄生虫、真菌等）。尽管受污染的微型机器人是一次性的，但磁场发生器将保持未受污染，可以重复使用。拟议的系统将适用于属于加拿大卫生和福利部划分的生物安全风险组第3级和第4级的实验。

Micromanipulation and microassembly deal with delicate environments. A magnetically levitated manipulator can provide a breakthrough solution, and perform these tasks with the advantages of dust-free and frictionless operation. The forces applied on these tiny and sensitive objects by the manipulator should be precisely controlled to avoid any possible damage. Therefore, force sensors should be employed, but when dealing with tiny objects, the implementation of force sensors is challenging and may not be feasible. This proposal aims to overcome these shortcomings by developing a novel Magnetically Levitated Micromanipulator (MLM). The MLM operates dust-free and without friction, and benefits from a force sensing method without the use of any actual force sensors. The proposed MLM technology can be applied in variety of applications such as structure microassembly, cleanroom operations, device fabrication, and packaging. Moreover, since the MLM propulsion is produced by transferring magnetic energy, it has the ability to manipulate objects inside completely sealed enclosures. The ability to remotely manipulate the microrobot in a sealed enclosure allows fields such as chemistry and biology the flexibility of full control within a sealed experiment (e.g., vacuum enclosure). This is ideal for sensitive ecosystem experiments as well as experiments involving harmful substances. Examples include gene manipulation and biohazardous handling of genetic material (e.g., recombinant DNA, bacteria, viruses, parasites, fungi, etc.). Though the contaminated microrobots will be disposable, the magnetic field generators will remain uncontaminated to be reused. The proposed system would be suitable for experiments belonging to levels 3 and 4 of the biosafety risk group as classified by Health and Welfare Canada.