Design and build a miniaturized 3-axis translational stage

• Main Author: Chiew, Kang Lin
• Other Authors: Zhang Yi
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: Nanyang Technological University 2021
• Subjects: Engineering::Mechanical engineering
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/151023
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Digital microfluidics is a very important platform which is used for the manipulation of the droplets of different nature on a surface which is open in its geometry. It is also referred as the Design for Manufacturability (DFM). In this mechanism the droplets are poured, moved, and afterwards analysed at the platform utilizing some electrodes. The use of digital microfluidics is very important and have couple of advantages over the other microfluidics. The basic principle of the digital microfluidics is the force of attraction which binds the droplets together. The particles used in the digital microfluidics offer multiple advantages as they provide a basic substance which later helps in the 3-axis translational stage. The advantage of this digital microfluidics is that they even operate in those circumstances where the expensive mechanisms cannot be used. This report comprises of the plot of the miniaturized 3-axis stage of translational nature. Further, the usage of the permanent magnet for the complete manipulation and iteration of the droplets which are spread on the open surface. The next step will be to give a comprehensive literature review in which the nature and individual types of the microfluidics will be discussed with complete working mechanism too. The scope will be discussed generically and then the purpose and motto of incorporating the nature of 3-axis stages will be discussed. The hardware selection will discuss all the components selected and use for building the 3axis miniaturized translational stage. After the component selection, design conceptual will provide 2 different designs of the stage which are designed based on the criteria such as lightweight, small etc. Final design will be chosen in the design conceptual chapter. Next will be the electrical circuit, it will be discussed in detail how to calculate the amount of power needed, current limiting and schematic diagram of the electrical wiring. Graphic user interface will be used to allow user to control the system at ease. Within this chapter, the layout of each page and flow will be discussed. The last stage of designing and build will be the programming, it will focus more on the algorithms generated out for each function within the system which will provide backend calculation. To ensure that the whole design and build process is successful, testing is done by using it for droplet manipulation application. The stage characteristic and limitation will also be discussed in detail within the result and testing chapter. Future work is strongly recommended to further improve the performance and smartness of the system. This report will end of with the conclusion and references.