Performance Evaluation of Teleoperation for Manipulating Micro Objects Using Two-Fingered Micro Hand

We developed a dexterous micromanipulation system consisting of a two-fingered micro hand, an autofocusing optical microscope, an image processor, and user interfaces. The micro hand has 6 degrees of freedom (DOF), 3 DOF each for two fingers that work similar to a thumb and forefinger or chopsticks. This hand grasps, moves, rotates and releases micronscale objects. In teleoperation mode, the user controls hand motion with a joystick or keyboard while observing the microscope image on a TV monitor. We evaluate teleoperation performance for manipulating micronscale objects. Several types of motion command methods proposed include a keyboard or joystick as operation device, and position or rate command modes. The tasks experimentally evaluated are picking, grasping, moving, and releasing micron-size objects, i.e., a glass grain in air and a yeast cell in liquid. These are compared in positioning accuracy and task execution time.