Automatic 3D reconstruction of SEM images based on Nano-robotic manipulation and epipolar plane images.

This paper reports a new and general 3D reconstruction algorithm by using the light field reconstruction theory to effectively construct 3D SEM images in a large range. Firstly, a nano-robotic system was employed to automatically capture a group of SEM images along a linear path with a fixed step size, which allowed the 3D SEM images to be reconstructed beyond the field of view (FOV) of SEM. Then, the epipolar-plane images (EPI) were generated, and the depth image was reconstructed based on the specific linear structures emerging in EPI and the automatic depth estimation algorithm.

In Situ SEM Torsion Test of Metallic Glass Microwires Based on Micro Robotic Manipulation.

Microwires, such as metallic, semiconductor, and polymer microwires and carbon fibers, have stimulated great interest due to their importance in various structural and functional applications. Particularly, metallic glass (MG) microwires, because of their amorphous atoms arrangement, have some unique mechanical properties compared with traditional metals. Despite the fact that substantial research efforts have been made on the mechanical characterizations of metallic glass microwires under tension or flexural bending, the mechanical properties of microwires under torsional loading have not been well studied, mainly due to the experimental difficulties, such as the detection of torsion angle, quantitative measurement of the torsional load, and the alignment between the specimen and torque meter.

Hybrid 3D printing and electrodeposition approach for controllable 3D alginate hydrogel formation.

Calcium alginate hydrogels are widely used as biocompatible materials in a substantial number of biomedical applications. This paper reports on a hybrid 3D printing and electrodeposition approach for forming 3D calcium alginate hydrogels in a controllable manner. Firstly, a specific 3D hydrogel printing system is developed by integrating a customized ejection syringe with a conventional 3D printer.

Controllable 3D alginate hydrogel patterning via visible-light induced electrodeposition.

The fabrication of alginate hydrogel in 3D has recently received increasing attention owing to its distinct efficacy as biocompatible scaffold for 3D cell culture, biomedical and tissue engineering. We report a controllable 3D alginate hydrogel patterning method by developing a visible-light induced electrodeposition chip. The chip mainly consists of a photoconductive titanyl phthalocyanine (TiOPc) anode plate, an indium tin oxide (ITO) cathode plate and the mixed solution (1% sodium alginate and 0.

Vision-based Nano Robotic System for High-throughput Non-embedded Cell Cutting.

Cell cutting is a significant task in biology study, but the highly productive non-embedded cell cutting is still a big challenge for current techniques. This paper proposes a vision-based nano robotic system and then realizes automatic non-embedded cell cutting with this system. First, the nano robotic system is developed and integrated with a nanoknife inside an environmental scanning electron microscopy (ESEM).

Multidirectional Image Sensing for Microscopy Based on a Rotatable Robot.

Image sensing at a small scale is essentially important in many fields, including microsample observation, defect inspection, material characterization and so on. However, nowadays, multi-directional micro object imaging is still very challenging due to the limited field of view (FOV) of microscopes. This paper reports a novel approach for multi-directional image sensing in microscopes by developing a rotatable robot.