Haptic localization and shape recognition of Nano Objects

Manipulations of submicron objects on a surface with a scanning force probe required a precise localization and shape recognition in order to perform controlled displacements and/or actions on them. As these submicron objects are closed to the optical detection limit of classical optical microscopy, we propose to combine an AFM tip mounted on a quartz tuning fork resonator and a high performance haptic system. The whole system acts as a nano-finger/tool. In this paper two main configurations of the haptic coupling have been tested: (1) a full manual control configuration where the operator pilots manually the AFM probe displacements in (X,Y,Z) directions and then feels and adjusts the tip-surface interaction, (2) a collaborative human-robot configuration where the operator pilots only (X,Y) directions while the standard feedback loop of the AFM probe controls the tip-sample interaction to keep it constant. In both cases, the experimentalist successes in a localization task while in the recognition task the assisted configuration (2) only provides reliable and reproducible results without tip damage. A critical analysis of the results and the haptic recognition process is reported in the last section to discuss about the haptic representation based only on the vertical direction while the common and classical representation is based on the normal direction of the sample surface. Finally a third configuration to pass from localization and recognition mode to nano-manipulation mode is proposed.