Micro operation system based on miniature mobile robot

A newly developed micro operation system assisted by a conceptual 5-DOF (degree of freedom) macro/micro dual driven micro robot is presented. With the macro motion mode, the robot is a typical wheeled mobile robot and with the micro motion mode the robot is an inchworm robot. A manipulator is mounted on the top of robot platform for the robot accomplishing micro operation task. To navigate the robot automatically, an intelligent vision sensor system is developed. The vision system includes two parts that are the global vision system and the local vision system. The global visual system guides the robot to accomplish large workspace rapid motion. The local vision system guides the robot to accomplish small workspace precision positioning for micro operation task. Experiments show that the proposed system succeeds in providing micro operation task such as micro part gripping and assembly.