2010 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation
Anchorage, Alaska, May 3-8, 2010

WorkShop:
"Signals Measurement and Estimation Techniques Issues in the Micro/Nano-World"


Authors


- S. Muntwyler , F. Beyeler and B.J. Nelson,

Institute of Robotics and Inteligent Systems (IRIS),
ETH Zurich, Zurich, CH 8092, SWITZERLAND.

Title


Microrobotic tools for the measurement of small forces

Abstract


Capacitive force and position sensing in combination with electrostatic actuation is used to design miniature tools capable of measuring forces between nano- and micronewtons to mechanically characterize microscopic samples. The functional principle of the tools as well as an introduction into the fabrication and capacitive readout are given. The calibration, being one of the most challenging parts of microforce sensing, as well as the methods to calculate the sensing uncertainty are presented.

Download the slide
here




Bio of the speaker


Simon Muntwyler received the M.S. degree in mechanical engineering from ETH Zurich, Zürich, Switzerland, in 2006. He is currently working toward the Ph.D. degree at the Institute of Robotics and Intelligent Systems, ETH Zurich, focusing on the development of novel MEMS-based tools to mechanically characterize microscopic samples.

He is a Cofounder and CTO of FemtoTools GmbH, a winner of the Swiss Technology Award in 2009.

Homepage: http://www.iris.ethz.ch/msrl/people/simon.php



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