Mechanism of micro manipulation using oscillation

In this paper, we analyze the mechanism of the phenomenon between an end effector, a micro object and a substrate during a micro manipulation. In a micro range, the attracting forces such as the van der Waals, capillary, and electrostatic forces dominate and course adhesion between the object and the end-effector. The adhesion makes the manipulation of an object difficult. Recently, we developed a method to reduce the attracting/adhesion effect. When bringing an oscillating end-effector close to a micro object on a substrate, the attracting force between the object and the end-effector is reduced, attracting the object to the substrate. Then, it becomes easy to remove the end-effector from the object. Using this method, a micro object can be easily manipulated. However, the mechanism of the phenomenon is still unclear. In this paper, we develop the theoretical model of the system to analyze the phenomenon, and simulate the dynamical motion of the system. Comparing the experimental results, we show the validity of our approach. Using simulation and experiment, we show that the oscillation of the end-effector can reduce the adhesion effect between the end-effector and the object, attracting the object to the substrate