Special Issue on Micro-Assembly for manufacturing at small scales

A special issue of the IEEE Transactions on Automation Science and Engineering.

Introduction

Microelectronics brought an information revolution through integrating an incredible number of microscopic transistors on single chips. Since this first revolution, huge progresses have been made through the miniaturization and integration of mechanical and/or optical functions in addition to electrical ones. These products are now generally called MEMS or MOEMS (Micro-Opto-Electro-Mechanical-Systems). Accelerometers, inject printer heads, micro-mirrors, micro-relays, pressure sensors are the most known and widespread MEMS. Such products are fabricated using microfabrication processes based on successive and well mastered steps such as thin film deposition, patterning and etching of wafers. Nevertheless, a new generation of MEMS is definitely moving toward highly integrated, more complex and increasingly miniaturized products.

Due to the short life cycle of most new and high-tech products, they have to be produced in smaller and customized batches. Even though microfabrication technology has shown impressive progress during the last decade, where processes are much better known and lots of new materials have been introduced, many limitations remain and are extremely difficult to overcome, especially concerning processes and materials incompatibilities. For those two reasons, micro-assembly, i.e. the 3D integration of hybrid M(O)EMS components (from few µm to few hundreds of µm in size) together, is a natural and powerful approach to overcome those processes incompatibilities and to facilitate complex, heterogeneous, 3D, or out of plane integration. By using basic micro components, micro-assembly thus constitutes a new alternative of MEMS production that may lead to cost saving and shorter development cycle times.

Previous developments enabled lots of proof of concepts (actuators, sensors, gripping principles and tools, control, manipulation...). However, micro-assemblies performed automatically and/or with acceptable yields are, at the same time, extremely recent and challenging topics. It notably requires to simultaneously consider microfabrication tolerances (M(O)EMS components to assemble, handling tools…), robots uncertainties, sensors integration, reliable control, bonding and metrology aspects, where all of these aspects are specific at the microscale (lack of sensors and adapted gripping tools, small signal to noise ratio, use of non linear actuators, surface force predominance...).

Scope, Description, and More Information

Original and unpublished high-quality research results are solicited to explore and boost the new areas relevant to Assistive Robotics. Topics of interest include (but are not limited to):

Robotic Micro-Assembly
Self-Assembly Techniques
Hybrid Micro-Assembly
Force and/or Position (including vision) based Automated Micro-Assembly
Open-Loop Automated Micro-Assembly
Packaging of M(O)EMS
Novel Control Tools for Micro-Assembly Systems
Joining of Microscale Components
Assembled M(O)EMS Products
Microfactory
Calibration of Micro-Assembly Platforms Metrology for M(O)EMS Characterization
Sensor Fusion for Micro-Assembly

Important Dates

Call for Papers	November 15, 2011
Deadline for Paper Submission	June 15, 2012 (extended)
First Review	July 15, 2012
Final Review	October 15, 2012
Publication	July 2013

Guest Editors

Karl Bohringer

Guest Editor

Karl Bohringer

University of Washington, Department of Electrical Engineering
Seattle (WA), United States

+1 206 543 3842

http://www.ee.washington.edu/faculty/karl/