Micro Transportation Systems: A Review (original) (raw)
Related papers
Journal of Microelectromechanical Systems, 2000
This paper presents a novel micro transportation system (MTS), which can drive micro containers in both straight and curved paths based on an electrostatic comb actuator and a ratchet mechanism. The micro container, which has four driving wings and four anti-reverse wings attached to its central 'backbone', is driven to move forward only by an electrostatic actuator. While the driving wings act as the legs of a water strider to push the container forward, the anti-reverse wings work as a ratchet mechanism to prevent the container from moving backward. The container with a length, width and thickness of 500 μm, 250 μm and 30 μm, respectively, moves unidirectionally with a desirable velocity up to 1000 μm s −1 in straight and curved paths. The velocity can be changed by varying the frequency and/or amplitude of the driving voltage. The MTS has been fabricated from SOI (silicon on insulator) wafer utilizing silicon micromachining technology with only one mask.
2007
This paper describes a Si micro transportation system (MTS) to drive micro containers in straight movement based on a ratchet mechanism and electrostatic comb-drive actuators. This MTS consists of linear comb actuators, micro containers and ratchet racks. The lateral movements of ratchet racks push the micro containers which move straight in a perpendicular direction with different velocities. The MTS was fabricated from a SOI wafer by using only one mask. In our experiments, the movement of the micro container has been tested with driving frequency ranges from 1 Hz to 20 Hz. The velocity of the micro container was proportional to the driving frequency, and it matched well with the theoretical calculation.
Novelmicro Transportation Systems Based on Ratchetmechanism and Electrostatic Actuators
TRANSDUCERS 2007 - 2007 International Solid-State Sensors, Actuators and Microsystems Conference, 2007
This paper describes a design and fabrication of Si micro transportation systems (MTS) to drive microcars based on ratchet mechanism and electrostatic comb-drive actuators. This MTS consists of linear and rotational comb actuators, microcars, and micro ratchet mechanism. The microcars can be moved with different velocities by comb-drive actuators through ratchet teeth. In this study, the MTS was fabricated by using SOI wafer with device layer of 30µm, buried SiO 2 layer of 4µm, and with only one mask. In our experiments, the movement of the microcar has been tested with driving frequency ranges from 5Hz to 40Hz. The velocity of the microcar was proportional to the driving frequency, and it matched well with theoretical calculation.
A fully functional micro transportation system with strider-like movement of micro containers
2008 IEEE 21st International Conference on Micro Electro Mechanical Systems, 2008
This paper presents a novel micro transportation system (MTS), which can drive micro containers in both straight and curved paths, based on electrostatic and ratchet mechanism. The micro container, which has driving-wings and anti-reverse-wings attached to the central 'backbone', is driven by electrostatic actuator through the ratchet racks in perpendicular direction. The container with the length and width of 450µm and 250µm, respectively, moves like a water strider with desirable velocity up to 200µm/sec in the straight and curved paths. In order to create the smart and flexible MTS, the elemental modules, e.g. straight, turning and separation modules with the same size (6mm×6mm) have been developed. Therefore, different configurations of the MTS can be created flexibly by assembling the elemental modules.
2007 International Symposium on Micro-NanoMechatronics and Human Science, 2007
motors to move a sliding shuttle. In this case, the This paper presents a novel micro transportation driving mechanism requires at least two groups of system (MTS), which can drive micro carts by bidirectional XY actuators which were turned on and off utilizing electrostatic actuator and ratchet at suitable times, alternately holding and driving a mechanism. The micro cart, which has driving-wings shuttle. In another work [5], Fujimasa reported the and anti-reverse-wings attached to its central integrated actuator which was actuated by vibration and 'backbone', is driven by electrostatic actuator
A fabrication process for electrostatic microactuators with integrated gear linkages
Journal of Microelectromechanical Systems, 1997
A surface micromachining process is presented which has been used to fabricate electrostatic microactuators. These microactuators are interconnected with each other and linked to other movable microstructures by integrated gear linkages. The gear linkages consist of rotational and linear gear structures, and the electrostatic microactuators include curved electrode actuators, comb-drive actuators, and axial-gap wobble motors. The micromechanical structures are constructed from polysilicon. Silicon dioxide was used as a sacrificial layer, and silicon nitride was used for electrical insulation. A cyclohexane freeze drying technique was used to prevent problems with stiction. The actuators, loaded with various mechanisms, were successfully driven by electrostatic actuation. The work is a first step toward mechanical power transmission in micromechanical systems. [213]
Microactuators and micromachines
Proceedings of the IEEE, 1998
Research and development in microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) have made remarkable progress since 1988, when an electrostatic micromotor the size of a human hair was first operated successfully. Since then, many types of microactuators utilizing various driving forces and mechanisms have been developed. Distinctive features of MEMS (miniaturization, multiplicity of components, and the integration of microelectronics) have led to promising application areas such as fluidic microsystems. In the future, MEMS promises to make contributions to the society of the twenty-first century in three broad areas: 1) offering easier access to information, 2) making human lifestyles more compatible with the environment, and 3) improving people's social welfare. This paper will discuss some of the technological issues pertaining to microactuators, micromachines, and the future development of MEMS.
Review on Micro-Electromechanical Systems (MEMS
MEMS is an acronym for micro-electro mechanical systems. This technology was first introduced in the 1980s and since then it's used to produce very small sensors and actuators whose size is in microns. These micro size transducers are capable to be blended with the signal conditioning or processing in electronics circuitry to form a system which can perform real time processing like the distributed control etc. MEMS are mainly based on silicon as their basic element and these have a long list and variety of applications where they can be used such as, mobile equipment, automobile sensors and actuators, printers, networking and sensor arrays and medical applications etc. Being extremely small in size, they have a small footprint hence consume very little space on chip compared to conventional sensors and the size can be related to the power consumption as well, most of the MEMS need power in Milli-Watts range hence the efficiency of the devices also gets improved and we can get more operation time using the same power supply like a battery or cell. This paper is a review related to the importance of MEMS in our day-today life, the current trends in small scale and largescale industries and the future scope of this technology in various applications is also been discussed.