Contact and force control in microassembly

This paper aims at advancing micromanipulation technology with in-situ PVDF piezoelectric force sensing and control during microassembly and packaging process. To allow close monitoring of magnitude and direction of forces (surface, friction, and assembly force) acting on micro devices during manipulation, the polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) is used to fabricate highly sensitive 1-D and 2-D force sensors for assembly of micro devices. By using the designed force sensors with the effective signal processing techniques, the contact force/impact signal can be obtained desirably so that it greatly improves the reliability of force regulation in microassembly. Moreover, based on a new sensor-referenced control method, the force control had been implemented by employing a micromanipulator system equipped with the force sensor and its results verify the effectiveness of sensor model as well as the performance of force feedback and control system. Ultimately the technology will provide a critical and major step towards the development of automated manufacturing processes for batch assembly of micro devices.