{"id":8257,"date":"2012-02-16T12:32:24","date_gmt":"2012-02-16T17:32:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sciencebusiness.technewslit.com\/?p=8257"},"modified":"2012-02-16T12:32:24","modified_gmt":"2012-02-16T17:32:24","slug":"mass-production-process-devised-for-micro-robots-devices","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/technewslit.com\/sciencebusiness\/?p=8257","title":{"rendered":"Mass Production Process Devised for Micro Robots, Devices"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Close-up<\/a>
Close-up view of pop-up microbot (Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Engineers at Harvard University<\/a> have developed a technology that makes possible the mass production of miniature electronic and robotic devices, using layering and folding processes similar to the Japanese paper-folding art of origami. Doctoral candidates Pratheev Sreetharan and Peter Whitney say their discovery is scheduled for publication in the March 2012 issue of the Journal of Micromechanics and Microengineering<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Sreetharan and Whitney developed these processes from their work on Harvard’s Micro Air Vehicles<\/a> (Robobees) project to design miniature robotics patterned after bees in nature. Until they devised the new fabrication process, however, each device required assembly by hand, which not only took a long time, but also led to high error rates.<\/p>\n

The new process enables Sreetharan and Whitney’s team to produce complex prototype devices, only 2.4 millimeters in height and about the size of a U.S. quarter. They use 18 layers of carbon fiber, a plastic film called Kapton, titanium, brass, ceramic, and adhesive sheets laminated together in a laser-cut design. The resulting structure has hinges that allow the three-dimensional units to assemble in one movement, like a pop-up book.<\/p>\n

The team says dozens of these micro-robots can be fabricated at one time on a single sheet. In addition, the layering technique is based on manufacturing processes used today to make printed circuit boards, which means that the tools for creating large sheets of pop-up devices are currently available.<\/p>\n

While the new techniques promise to streamline the manufacturing of micro devices, the design process is still a labor-intensive exercise. Standard computer-aided design (CAD) tools are made to design either flat, layered circuit boards, or 3D objects, but do not yet support devices that combine both.<\/p>\n

Harvard’s technology transfer office has started the commercialization process for this work including the filing of patent applications.<\/p>\n

The following video tells more about this project.<\/p>\n