29-11-2012, 01:08 PM
NANOTECHNOLOGY AND MEMS IN ROBOTICS
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ABSTRACT
Nanomechanical devices promise to revolutionize measurements of extremely small displacements and extremely weak forces, particularly at the molecular scale. Hence MEMS has a huge scope on robotics at nano scale where MEMS enabled devices like Accelerators,Oscillators,etc. form the basic components of the nano robot.Inside an accelerator MEMS device are tiny micro-structures that bend due to momentum and gravity. When it experiences any form of acceleration, these tiny structures bend by an equivelent amount which can be electrically detected. Today, accelerometers are easily and cheaply available, making it a very viable sensor for cheap robotics hobbyists like you and me.MEMS surgical robots can be used in biology to study the Human body and treat disease by sending a nanobot through the blood stream.Everything in the world comes at a price.
MEMS also face disadvantages mainly commercializing .MEMS modules are created on experimental basis and require huge funding.Hence presently commercial usage is quite far away and will be a boon to many fields if made possible.
INTRODUCTION
What is NANOTECHNOLOGY?
Nanotechnology is a field of applied science and technology covering a broad range of topics. The main unifying theme is the control of matter on a scale below 100 nanometers, as well as the fabrication of devices on this same length scale. Nanotechnology cuts across many disciplines, including colloidal science, chemistry, applied physics and other scientific fields.
Apart from numerous nanotechnologies such as quantum dots ,NEMS and nanotubes for space research, real applications employ colloidal nanoparticles in bulk form, such as suntan lotion, cosmetics, protective coatings.The module chosen for the paper is an application of Nanotechnology with MEMS
.
What is NEMS?
Two main approaches are used in nanotechnology: a "bottom-up" approach the other being “top-down” approach .Top-down approaches create smaller devices by using larger ones to direct their assembly like Solid-state silicon methods for fabricating microprocessors. They are now capable of creating devices smaller than 100 nm known as nanoelectromechanical systems(NEMS), which are related to microelectromechanical systems(MEMS).
APPLICATIONS OF MEMS IN ROBOTICS:
MEMS-scale accelerometers, geophones, and gyros—thanks to their small size and weight, modest power consumption and cost, and high reliability—are replacing some of their standard-size precursors as well as establishing new markets of their own.
While accelerometers are the current leaders in commercially successful MEMS technology, other inertial devices such as rate gyroscopes are poised for a similar success. In addition to high-volume markets for automotive crash sensors, there are niche markets for high-resolution seismic sensing and high-g sensors.
Oscillators:
The field of robotics require ultra small, high frequency filters and oscillators with
extremely good temporal and thermal stabilities, high resonant quality-factors, and excellent RF matching characteristics. Discrete bulk acoustic wave devices such as quartz resonators have been the prevailing choice for such applications because single crystal quartz has several attractive material properties. It is a low loss (high Q) piezoelectric material with zero temperature coefficient for selected crystal cuts. In addition, its
chemically inert surface makes quartz a candidate for stable frequency operations. However, current manufacturing technology for quartz resonators does not provide a
straightforward method for reducing the size and thereby increasing the frequency of operation into the UHF range . Furthermore, integrating large arrays of precisely tuned
structures with high-frequency RF electronics, and vacuum packaging the resulting chip at wafer level, are not possible with present techniques. Polysilicon surface micromachining technology has enabled the creation of on-chip UHF resonators
with high Q values.
Microphones:
MEMS (Micro Electro Mechanical Systems) products utilize robust processes from the semiconductor industry to make a wide variety of electronic devices smaller, more reliable and cheaper to manufacture. In simple terms, MEMS is the creation of mechanical structures with semiconductor technology.
Traditional uses of silicon involve creating pathways for electricity within components such as integrated circuits. In contrast, MEMS transforms silicon into mechanically moving parts. During the past decade, this process has become useful in an increasing number of industries. For example, the automotive market uses MEMS accelerometers to sense crashes and deploy airbags.
CONCLUSION
Our computers are quite fast and small, but no revolutionary breakthrough in computing has happened since the transistor was invented. The human genome project has reached completion, yet limits in our ability to cure disease on a molecular basis remain. While it is often difficult to predict the future, some things seem inevitable. Just as a ball thrown into the air can be expected to fall to the ground, so can we expect our technology to reach the molecular scale. Nanotechnology, the manipulation and assembly of tiny devices often not much larger than a group of molecules, is a perfect application for industrial robotics. Due to the fact the objects being handled are so small, a few billionths of a meter, it is impossible for a human to see or successfully fabricate anything from them, robotics are the primary means of working with them.
[attachment=41651]
ABSTRACT
Nanomechanical devices promise to revolutionize measurements of extremely small displacements and extremely weak forces, particularly at the molecular scale. Hence MEMS has a huge scope on robotics at nano scale where MEMS enabled devices like Accelerators,Oscillators,etc. form the basic components of the nano robot.Inside an accelerator MEMS device are tiny micro-structures that bend due to momentum and gravity. When it experiences any form of acceleration, these tiny structures bend by an equivelent amount which can be electrically detected. Today, accelerometers are easily and cheaply available, making it a very viable sensor for cheap robotics hobbyists like you and me.MEMS surgical robots can be used in biology to study the Human body and treat disease by sending a nanobot through the blood stream.Everything in the world comes at a price.
MEMS also face disadvantages mainly commercializing .MEMS modules are created on experimental basis and require huge funding.Hence presently commercial usage is quite far away and will be a boon to many fields if made possible.
INTRODUCTION
What is NANOTECHNOLOGY?
Nanotechnology is a field of applied science and technology covering a broad range of topics. The main unifying theme is the control of matter on a scale below 100 nanometers, as well as the fabrication of devices on this same length scale. Nanotechnology cuts across many disciplines, including colloidal science, chemistry, applied physics and other scientific fields.
Apart from numerous nanotechnologies such as quantum dots ,NEMS and nanotubes for space research, real applications employ colloidal nanoparticles in bulk form, such as suntan lotion, cosmetics, protective coatings.The module chosen for the paper is an application of Nanotechnology with MEMS
.
What is NEMS?
Two main approaches are used in nanotechnology: a "bottom-up" approach the other being “top-down” approach .Top-down approaches create smaller devices by using larger ones to direct their assembly like Solid-state silicon methods for fabricating microprocessors. They are now capable of creating devices smaller than 100 nm known as nanoelectromechanical systems(NEMS), which are related to microelectromechanical systems(MEMS).
APPLICATIONS OF MEMS IN ROBOTICS:
MEMS-scale accelerometers, geophones, and gyros—thanks to their small size and weight, modest power consumption and cost, and high reliability—are replacing some of their standard-size precursors as well as establishing new markets of their own.
While accelerometers are the current leaders in commercially successful MEMS technology, other inertial devices such as rate gyroscopes are poised for a similar success. In addition to high-volume markets for automotive crash sensors, there are niche markets for high-resolution seismic sensing and high-g sensors.
Oscillators:
The field of robotics require ultra small, high frequency filters and oscillators with
extremely good temporal and thermal stabilities, high resonant quality-factors, and excellent RF matching characteristics. Discrete bulk acoustic wave devices such as quartz resonators have been the prevailing choice for such applications because single crystal quartz has several attractive material properties. It is a low loss (high Q) piezoelectric material with zero temperature coefficient for selected crystal cuts. In addition, its
chemically inert surface makes quartz a candidate for stable frequency operations. However, current manufacturing technology for quartz resonators does not provide a
straightforward method for reducing the size and thereby increasing the frequency of operation into the UHF range . Furthermore, integrating large arrays of precisely tuned
structures with high-frequency RF electronics, and vacuum packaging the resulting chip at wafer level, are not possible with present techniques. Polysilicon surface micromachining technology has enabled the creation of on-chip UHF resonators
with high Q values.
Microphones:
MEMS (Micro Electro Mechanical Systems) products utilize robust processes from the semiconductor industry to make a wide variety of electronic devices smaller, more reliable and cheaper to manufacture. In simple terms, MEMS is the creation of mechanical structures with semiconductor technology.
Traditional uses of silicon involve creating pathways for electricity within components such as integrated circuits. In contrast, MEMS transforms silicon into mechanically moving parts. During the past decade, this process has become useful in an increasing number of industries. For example, the automotive market uses MEMS accelerometers to sense crashes and deploy airbags.
CONCLUSION
Our computers are quite fast and small, but no revolutionary breakthrough in computing has happened since the transistor was invented. The human genome project has reached completion, yet limits in our ability to cure disease on a molecular basis remain. While it is often difficult to predict the future, some things seem inevitable. Just as a ball thrown into the air can be expected to fall to the ground, so can we expect our technology to reach the molecular scale. Nanotechnology, the manipulation and assembly of tiny devices often not much larger than a group of molecules, is a perfect application for industrial robotics. Due to the fact the objects being handled are so small, a few billionths of a meter, it is impossible for a human to see or successfully fabricate anything from them, robotics are the primary means of working with them.