STC Technology Group, Inc. was formed to address the human dexterity problem. A Bimanual Telemicrorobotics Test Bed featuring high-precision parallel robotic manipulators has been designed with a majority of the system: the 3-DOF fine manipulator. In designing the 3-DOF fine manipulator system for the Test Bed it became apparent that this device could also be useful for present operating procedures whereby man becomes the coarse positioner placing the 3-DOF fine positioner near its target area (retina of acoustic nerve). With position resolution in the 1-10 micron range microsurgeons will be able to approach structures currently inaccessible. There are no current systems offering """"""""hand-held"""""""" 3-DOF movement on a down- sized scale for microsurgeons. STC Technology Group, Inc. will explore the feasibility of using Shape Memory Alloy (SMA) devices for such a manipulator. This work will define the position resolution, velocity and acceleration of the 3-DOF manipulator and determine the optimum SMA configuration and control scheme for each degree-of-freedom. Commercially, the 3-DOF fine positioner can be used in the microsurgery area to position cutters, forceps, shears, illuminators and pics - the majority of the tools used in every operation.
