Nonlinear control system based on fuzzy logic technique applied to drive piezoactuators for micro robotic applications MINIMAN: MINIaturised robot for micro MANipulation

Today several tasks in applications ranging from biology and medicine to microsystems technology demand for high-precision handling techniques. Transport and manipulation of biological cells or assembly of micromechanical parts are important applications for microrobots. A lot of these tasks have to be carried out by humans, but the manual capabilities are restricted to certain tolerances. So manual operation imposes severe restrictions on high quality production because of drastically miniaturised mechanical systems. In the last five years, researchers have developed new micromanipulation systems for applications in industry, biology or medicine. All of them work as telemanipulation systems and the robot, with miniaturised end effectors, is directly operated by the user. The aim of this work-in-progress manuscript is to present the state of our work in the micromanipulation control of a micro gripper. Due to the high resolution restrictions, this micro gripper is based in piezoceramic material and the control system is performed using fuzzy logic techniques.