High-resolution full-cycle rotational micromanipulation using a 2-DOF piezoelectric manipulator

The growing demand for high-precision, large-range rotational micromanipulation has outpaced the capabilities of conventional piezoelectric micromanipulators. Their inherently small strokes limit applications in tasks such as cell orientation, fiber alignment, and micro gear assembly. This work proposes a high-resolution and full-cycle rotational micromanipulation strategy that integrates static and inertial actuations, implemented on a laboratory-developed dual-finger piezoelectric micromanipulator. The device is driven by a single bending-type piezoelectric actuator (BPEA) and incorporates a two-dimensional compliant amplification mechanism (2D-CAM), allowing the two fingers to generate opposite displacements for gripping and rubbing. A pseudo-rigid-body model (PRBM) is formulated to analyze and ensure consistent displacement amplification in the rubbing direction, which underpins bilateral rolling and enables full-cycle inertial rotation. Experiments demonstrate continuous 360° rotation of a 250 μm optical fiber through inertial actuation and a rotation resolution of 0.009° through static actuation. Demonstrations on micro gear meshing and solder ball manipulation further validate the feasibility of the proposed strategy for complex micromanipulation tasks. These results provide a new approach for achieving high-resolution, large-angle rotational micromanipulation and significantly extend the functional envelope of piezoelectric micromanipulators for advanced micromanipulation applications.