Force Control System for Autonomous Micro Manipulation

A dexterous micro manipulation system was developed for applications such as assembling micro machines, manipulating cells, and micro surgery. We have proposed a concept of a two-fingered micro hand, designed and built a prototype. We succeeded in performing basic micro manipulations with a teleoperation, including the grasp, release, and rotation of a microscopic object. The micro hand is controlled with a position control only. An operator has to guess a micro grasping force on the object from a microscope image. The accurate micro manipulation depends on a skill of the operator yet. For an easy manipulation and an automatic manipulation, it is necessary to measure the micro forces between the finger and the object. A micro force sensor has developed for a force control in micro manipulation on a corroboration research of AIST and Olympus Optical Co., Ltd. Its resolution is 0.5 nN in theoretically. In this paper, we will mention the micro force sensor and to perform an automatic micro manipulation with installing the sensor and a force control system. Basic experiment shows excellent micro capability.