Precise automatic guiding and positioning of micro robots with a fine tool for microscopic operations

In this paper, we describe the newly-developed microscopic operation system assisted by one cubic inch sized micro robots under an inverted microscope. These micro robots, which are composed of piezo elements, are capable of moving in any direction, i.e. in X and Y directions as well as precisely rotate at the specified point. And they can convey several surgical fine tools such as a holding pipette and injection pipette so that they can execute flexible operations in a bio-cell while the well-trained operator can conventionally manage this operation. To automate these operations in the bio-cell, the tiny robots can be navigated and positioned by the combination of two styles of coordination measurement. At first as a coarse navigation manner, several micro robots can be guided into the range of the microscope from the arbitrary positions based on the analog signal feedback used by a PSD sensor. And then the microscopic operations can be carried out by monitoring the position of fine tools by analyzing the microscopic images obtained from the CCD camera. The experimental results show that the proposed system succeeds in maneuvering these small robots to provide microscopic operations.