Transmission of multimedia information on micro environment via Internet

Recent developments in the Internet have significantly increased the human capability to obtain information from and reach remote locations. In parallel, the Micro Mechanical and Electronic Systems (MEMS or Microsystems) technology makes it possible for the human to sense and act in a microenvironment. Combined, the Internet and MEMS, will produce a new technology for humans to sense and act in a remote micro-environment. This new technology has potential impact on several fields one of which is biomedical engineering. In this paper, we will present our ongoing development of polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) micro-tips as rate-of-force sensors for tele-micromanipulation force-feedback control of micro-mechanical devices over the Internet. Internet based teleoperation between Hong Kong and Michigan State was demonstrated using an event-based control scheme, which ensured stability and synchronization. Control was enhanced by multimedia feedback, which included, in addition to the traditional video, force feedback. The force fed back augmented the limited information supplied by visual feedback. However, the use of force feedback for microenvironments has difficulties, such as proper scaling, that should be carefully studied. We believe this project will eventually make a great impact to the globalisation of MEMS foundries because it will allow global users to micro-assemble and manipulate surface micromachined devices from their laboratories, and hence, reduce the time from design to production significantly.