Manipulation of the universal rotational mechanism for biological application

Recently, in the potential application of biological and micro-nano technology, there are increasing demands in areas such as bio-cell manipulation and micro fabrication at the micron or nano scale. However, it is very difficult to carry out direct micro manipulations. In contrast to microscopic working procedures, which permit free manipulation of objects with the both hands, microscopic working procedures that permit free manipulation of objects with the both hands, microscopic working procedures involve the observation and manipulation of the object within a very small area under a scanning electron microscope. We are currently developing a manipulation system of biological tissue and cell engineering. For such applications, we need to ascertain the presence of various fungi, bacilli, etc. on an object and approach any point of the object from any direction. To achieve the desired operation, we have developed a proto-type of a two-arm micromanipulator mounted on a rotary table around any given point on an object, allowing biological objects to be approached from any direction. The manipulation system is further comprised of a twin-arm manipulator mounted on a rotary table and a specimen stage. Each arm comes with three actuators superimposed one on the top of the other in order to move along the XYZ axial direction. The manipulator is driven by PZT actuators with magnifier elements and able to cover an envelop as wide as 200 /spl mu/m for each axis of X, Y and Z. The rotary table is supported by a pair of rollers set perpendicularly and driven by DC motor. The attitude of the roller pair is adjustable within three-degrees by the PZT actuators together with parallel plate magnifiers. In this paper, we investigate the need for a mechanism that permits controlled rotation around the principles of motion of our micromanipulation system, and the results of basic experiments with the system.