Mini direct drive robot arm for biomedical application

Abstract

The potential of electromagnetic actuation in a very small machine has been investigated. It has been compared to the newer technology of electrostatic micro-machines. Considerations on energy density, scaling capability, heat dissipation and actual geometry of a design have lead the authors to the conclusion that electromagnetic actuators are also competitive in the submillimeter range. The authors give a description of their 4 degree of freedom direct drive force feedback mini robot. It uses winchester disk drive technology, which is compact, powerful, clean and getting smaller, year after year. This robot could be the prototype of a family of mini-robots adapted to micro-surgery, biology and clean-room environment.