9321718 Pister This research involves the study of concepts and techniques for design, fabrication, and testing of a family of multiple degree of freedom robots with work volumes in a range from 0.5 millimeter to 0.5 centimeter on a side. The robots will be fabricated using existing micromachining technology developed for the micro sensor industry and micro electromechanical systems research. The robots will be built as complete units, with all of the sensors, motors, and mechanisms integrated into the same process. No assembly of separate components will be required. The robots will be capable of sub-micron positioning accuracy, which will be demonstrated by using a robot to probe a working integrated circuit. The robots will also be capable of carrying small payloads, on the order of one half of a millimeter on a side, which will be demonstrated by manipulation of small opto-electronics components such as laser diodes. This work will have immediate applications in integrated circuit manufacturing and testing, biomedical sample preparation and analysis, and material handling and characterization on a micron and submicron scale.
