Control system for the automatic handling of biological cells with mobile microrobots

This paper describes current research activities on the development of a control system for the automated handling of biological cells with mobile microrobots. Two main aspects are covered: a motorized inverted microscope is used to extract position coordinates of the microrobot's end-effector and the biological objects; and, a motion control system uses this sensor information to move a mobile microrobot with high precision on the microscope's stage. This system can then be used to automatically transport biological cells to different repositories or to perform microdissection.