Automated alignment, focussing and control of nanomanipulators in microassembly workcell

Authors present modular development of an Automatic Microassembly Workcell. Its hardware consists of MM3A® nanomanipulator, PI® linear micromotion stage, Microscope, CCD and VGA cameras. All these components are integrated together and controlled from a single MATLAB® program. In MATLAB®, vision based integrated routines are developed for online tracking and automatic control of the nanomanipulator´s orientation, tip position, tip focusing and collision avoidance to assist automation of microassembly procedure. Integration of multiple visual sensors for macro and micro vision allows switching sensing modes based on tasks to be performed for optimal speed and repeatability. Experiments conducted on MM3A® nanomanipulator using developed automation routing show ten times reduction in setup and run time for fundamental micromanipulation tasks such as orientation change, tip positioning, and tip focusing etc. as compared to their manual operation. Safety measures for collision avoidance have also been implemented.