Design and Modeling of an Active Five Axis Compliant Micromanipulator

Abstract

This paper presents the design and modeling of an active fiveaxis compliant micromanipulator whose tip orientation can be independently controlled by large angles about two axes and the tipposition can be controlled in three dimensions. These features enable precise control of the contact point of the tip and the tip–sample interaction forces with threedimensional nanoscale objects, including those features that are conventionally inaccessible. Control of the tipmotion is realized by means of electromagnetic actuation combined with a novel kinematic and structural design of the micromanipulator, which, in addition, also ensures compatibility with existing highresolution motionmeasurement systems. The design and analysis of the manipulator structure and those of the actuation system are first presented. Quasistatic and dynamic lumpedparameter (LP) models are then derived for the fiveaxis compliant micromanipulator. Finite element (FE) analysis is employed to validate these models, which are subsequently used to study the effects of tip orientation on the mechanical characteristics of the fiveaxis micromanipulator. Finally, a prototype of the designed fiveaxis manipulator is fabricated by means of focused ionbeam milling (FIB).