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Passive-active hybrid release strategy for micro-object separation task

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Abstract

While methods for analysis of microbial samples exist in microbiology, most take in data at a population level, and cannot account for small variations within groups. Single-cell analysis (SCA) enables access to more detailed information about a culture than common analysis techniques. Techniques for single-cell analysis exist, but are limited in terms of speed and dexterity. A robotic pick-and-place system could potentially be a viable, efficient method of facilitating SCA. In this paper, a simple pick-and-place system for microbiological applications is presented. Similar systems have been presented in literature with very good positional accuracy and reliability (which are desirable characteristics in a micromanipulation system), but there have been only few advances in minimizing complexity in such systems. Moreover, these systems suffer from domination of adhesion forces at micro-scale during releasing task. Using only two of 3-axes motorized stages and two end effectors; a hybrid passive-active release strategy is presented. The proposed system achieves semi-automated pick-and-place of spherical objects in the low end of the micrometer scale (5–50 \(\upmu \hbox {m}\)).

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Acknowledgements

Research supported by Massey University Research Fund (MURF) 2018.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Mechatronics Department, School of Engineering and Advanced Technology, Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand

    Daniel Crimp, Syahir Suhaimi & Ebubekir Avci

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  1. Daniel Crimp
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  2. Syahir Suhaimi
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  3. Ebubekir Avci
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Correspondence to Ebubekir Avci.

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Crimp, D., Suhaimi, S. & Avci, E. Passive-active hybrid release strategy for micro-object separation task. Int J Intell Robot Appl 2, 436–444 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41315-018-0073-7

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