ITR: Computational Prototyping of Micro-Electro-Fluidic-Mechanical Systems

微型传感器和执行器，也被称为微机电系统（MEMS），在信息技术革命中发挥着至关重要的作用。例如，无线互联网、航空航天、医疗、健康和其他各种行业的复杂芯片系统的发展都是通过MEMS技术实现的。在过去的十年中，微制造技术的进步使小型化传感器、致动器、设备和系统（统称为MEMS）取得了突破性的发展。一些最新的创新应用包括导航级制导系统中的加速度计，防抱死制动系统中的速率陀螺仪，以及复杂生物医学仪器中的化学传感器。基于MEMS的传感器更具吸引力，因为它们通常比传统设备更便宜，性能更好，并且可以更容易地与控制电子设备集成，从而实现片上系统的概念。迄今为止，缺乏高效和准确的计算原型工具一直是MEMS发展的一个重大障碍，因为大多数现有的电子和机械计算原型工具不具备充分分析微观现象的能力。因此，MEMS制造商被迫开发和测试原型，这两者都是耗时且非常昂贵的。在本提案中，我们专注于一类特殊的MEMS -被称为微电流体机械系统（MEFMS）。MEFMS是小型化的传感器、执行器、设备和系统，其中机械、电气和流体能量域起着核心作用。许多电流体机械设备已经设计和制造-例如压力传感器，加速度计，陀螺仪，数字微镜，麦克风和其他设备。虽然这些设备的制造方法已经足够成熟，但由于缺乏计算设计工具，许多这些设备的设计替代方案的研究目前受到限制。虽然计算研究主要针对工程分析，但在本提案中，我们将重点放在微电流体机械系统设计和分析的计算研究上。我们希望这项工作能够在软件工具领域开辟新的领域，为MEMS提供先进的计算方法。研究生将接受MEMS技术、先进计算方法和MEMS设计方法的培训。我们预计，随着高效、准确和强大的计算原型工具的可用性，基于MEMS的小型化系统的设计将迅速发展。目前，由于MEMS计算分析工具有限，积极进取的设计师将能够挑战他们的设计技能，当MEMS计算原型工具到位时。

Miniaturized sensors and actuators, also referred to as Microelectromechanical Systems (MEMS), play a critical role in information technology revolution. For example, the development of wireless internet, complex systems on a chip for aerospace, medical, health and various other industries is enabled by the MEMS technology. Over the past decade, advances in microfabrication technologies have enabled breakthrough developments in miniaturized sensors, actuators, devices and systems (collectively called MEMS). Some of the most recent innovative applications include accelerometers in navigational-grade guidance systems, rate gyroscopes inantilock-braking systems, and chemical sensors in complex biomedical instrumentation. MEMS based sensors are more attractive as they are often less expensive and perform better than traditional devices and they can more easily be integrated with control electronics to enable the concept of systems-on-a-chip. The lack of efficient and accurate computational prototyping tools has thus far been a significant barrier to the development of MEMS, because most existing electronic and mechanical computational prototyping tools do not have the ability to analyzemicroscopic phenomena adequately. As a result, MEMS manufacturers have been forced to develop and test prototypes, both of which have been time-consuming and very expensive.In this proposal we focus on a particular class of MEMS - referred to as microelectrofluidicmechanical systems (MEFMS). MEFMS are miniaturized sensors, actuators, devices and systems, where mechanical, electrical and fluidic energy domains play a central role. Many electrofluidicmechanical devices have been designed and fabricated - e.g. pressure sensors, accelerometers, gyroscopes, digital micro mirrors, microphones and other devices. While fabrication approaches for these devices are mature enough, investigation of design alternativesfor many of these devices is currently limited because of the lack of computational design tools. While computational research primarily addresses engineering analysis, in this proposal we focus on computational research for design and analysis of microelectrofluidicmechanical systems.We expect this work to break new grounds in the areas of software tools with advanced computational methods for MEMS. Graduate students will be trained on the MEMS technology, advanced computational methods and design methodologies for MEMS. We anticipate that the design of miniaturized systems based on MEMS will progress rapidly with the availability of efficient, accurate and robust computational prototyping tools. Aggressive designers, who are currently handicapped because of the limited computational analysis tools for MEMS, will be able to challenge their design skills when computational prototyping tools for MEMS are in place.