Martin Gurtner

Josef Matouš, Adam Kollarčík, Martin Gurtner et al.

In this paper we document a novel laboratory experimental platform for non-contact planar manipulation (positioning) of millimeter-scale objects using acoustic pressure. The manipulated objects are either floating on a water surface or rolling on a solid surface. The pressure field is shaped in real time through an 8-by-8 array (matrix) of ultrasonic transducers. The transducers are driven with square voltages whose phase-shifts are updated periodically every few milliseconds based on the difference between the desired and true (estimated from video) position. Numerical optimization is used within every period of a discrete-time feedback loop to determine the phase shifts for the voltages. The platform can be used as an affordable testbed for algorithms for non-contact manipulation through arrays of actuators as all the design and implementation details for the presented platform are shared with the public through a dedicated git repository. The platform can certainly be extended towards higher numbers of simultaneously yet independently manipulated objects and larger manipulation areas by the expanding the transducer array.

Martin Gurtner, Jiří Zemánek

Various optical methods for measuring positions of micro-objects in 3D have been reported in the literature. Nevertheless, majority of them are not suitable for real-time operation, which is needed, for example, for feedback position control. In this paper, we present a method for real-time estimation of the position of micro-objects in 3D; the method is based on twin-beam illumination and it requires only a very simple hardware setup whose essential part is a standard image sensor without any lens. Performance of the proposed method is tested during a micro-manipulation task in which the estimated position served as a feedback for the controller. The experiments show that the estimate is accurate to within ~3 um in the lateral position and ~7 um in the axial distance with the refresh rate of 10 Hz. Although the experiments are done using spherical objects, the presented method could be modified to handle non-spherical objects as well.

Martin Gurtner, Jiří Zemánek

Ball and hoop system is a well-known model for the education of linear control systems. In this paper, we have a look at this system from another perspective and show that it is also suitable for demonstration of more advanced control techniques. In contrast to the standard use, we describe the dynamics of the system at full length; in addition to the mode where the ball rolls on the (outer) hoop we also consider the mode where the ball drops out of the hoop and enters a free-fall mode. Furthermore, we add another (inner) hoop in the center upon which the ball can land from the free-fall mode. This constitutes another mode of the hybrid description of the system. We present two challenging tasks for this model and show how they can be solved by trajectory generation and stabilization. We also describe how such a model can be built and experimentally verify the validity of our approach solving the proposed tasks.