Abstract
This paper presents micromanipulator made of PDMS (polydimethylsiloxan), which is featured by its small, soft, and safe characteristics. Micromanipulator is driven by pneumatic balloon actuator (PBA) and detects contact or stiffness of an object by fluid-resistive bending sensor. The integrated tactile sensor has a perfect compatibility with flexible PBA. That is to say, there is no negative influence to the flexibility by attaching sensor. We researched characteristics of each compositional unit to improve the function of micromanipulator. In future works, we apply micromanipulator to the master-slave robot system using haptic interface. This system will improve the accuracy and safety of manipulation, and operator will be able to manipulate object more viscerally.
