A Scaled Bilateral Control System for Experimental One-dimensional Teleoperated Nanomanipulation

Abstract

In this work, one-dimensional experimental teleoperated nanomanipulation with force and visual feedback is demonstrated by using an atomic force microscope on the slave side and a haptic device on the master side. Three main topics are addressed that are especially relevant for force feedback in teleoperation at the nanoscale: transparency, impedance reflection according to human perception and stability. To further assist the operator, the Maugis—Dugdale elastic contact mechanics model is utilized to provide an augmented reality visual interface. As a result, a robust platform to perform teleoperated nanomanipulation on a broad range of materials is achieved. The performance of the resulting system is demonstrated on experimental results for vertical tip positioning tasks on glass, polystyrene and silicone rubber substrates with force and visual feedback. Experimental results indicate that softer substrates yield higher positioning errors and lower reaching speeds. Finally, one-dimensional nanoindentation of a flat polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) surface using the proposed teleoperation system is demonstrated.