Blanc SIMI 3 - Blanc - SIMI 3 - Matériels et logiciels pour les systèmes et les communications

Remote Energy supply and control of smArt Digital MIcroconveyors – READMI

Smart microconveyors for a reconfigurable microfactory

READMI project is intended to be a contribution to the reasoned management of the space and energy consumed by the micro-conveyance function in a smart micro-factory. The principal interest of the project consist in the design of micro-conveyors based on arrays of digital micro-actuators which are controlled and supplied wirelessly by optics.

Smart micro-conveyors with remote power supply and control, and integrated energy harvesting system

The rapid reconfiguration of production flows imposed by the diversity of manufactured micro-products is one of the major issues in the current works on the definition of the small-scale intelligent factory (Micro-factory). Consequently, the objective of the READMI project is to address the issue of remote power supply and control of micro-conveyors integrating a large number of micro-actuators distributed in a structured way on the conveying surface, their collective and ordered working allowing a freely micro-parts flow in the micro-factory space between its islets. In addition, the integration of additional functions (detection of the operating states of the micro-actuators and remote transmission of these states), powered by energy harvesting devices integrated into the micro-actuators, is proposed increasing the intelligence of the micro-conveyor without any increase in energy consumption or connectivity. READMI is therefore intended to be a contribution to the reasoned management of the space and energy consumed by the micro-conveyance function in a smart micro-factory.

In order to deal with the reconfigurable micro-conveying problem according to the nature of the micro-products to be assembled, the partners propose a limitation or even a suppression of the connection of the micro-actuators according to two axes: 1/ by developing principles of digital micro-actuation (with 2 or 4 predefined stable positions) that do not require sensors for the control of the displacement steps, 2/ by developing a control and/or a laser power supply allowing a selective operation of the digital micro-actuators depending on the wavelength. In the first approach, the contribution of microtechnologies is decisive in order to ensure the realization of repeatable displacement step and thus lift the technological lock. For the second approach, the main difficulty comes from the integration of active materials, acting as «pushers«, near the mobile part of the illuminated micro-actuator and to make them optically selective. Thin film deposition techniques (including modeling) are implemented to allow selective optical filtering of active materials.

A micro-conveying prototype based on electromagnetic micro-actuators has been developed and demonstrated on the transfer of watchmaking micro-parts. Its remote control (lying on a pending patent) has been validated and this optical link can find applications in the field of communication between systems, this may generate potential actions at short-term with an identified industrialist. The integrated energy harvesting activity in the micro-actuators has generated an international partnership over the medium-term (over 4 years).

An economic exploitation in the field of the high bitrate communication between mobile systems (vehicles) is expected in a short-term delay thanks to the patent obtained during the READMI project by UTC-Roberval and UPJV-LPMC partners. An industrialist has been identified by the SATT Lutech which manage intellectual property for UTC. The result of this interaction could be the licensing or a direct partnership with royalties cash-back.
USMB - SYMME partner of READMI project planned to do a licensing of their ongoing patents related to the energy harvesting embedded into microsystems. Two industrialists are interested in the topic.
During the Project, with the help of U-PSUD (C2N) partner, UTC had the opportunity to join the NAMIS (NAnoMIcroSystems) network of international partners (GDRI) supported by INSIS department of CNRS. Thanks to this, the identification of high added-value partners is facilitated to build a European project (H2020 or next FP9) in the field of micro-conveyance for microfactories. Calls in «autonomous (micro)robotics« or «factory of future« are already targeted.
The work carried out within the framework of the project on the recovery of a part of the energy consumed for the supply of micro-actuators by mechanical vibrations allowed the UTC to develop an action with the Lebanese CNRS on the theme of “energy mix” in microsystems (works on energy harvesting from multiple sources as mechanical vibrations and optical sources). This partnership led to a joined supervision thesis that will start in June 2018 and will be the opportunity to continue the work initiated by partners UTC and USMB during the READMI project.

Two PhD theses were defended at Université de technologie de Compiegne (October 2015) and Université Paris-Sud (July 2017) as part of the READMI project. Three publications in international journals have been published and other three will be published very soon during the period of April - May 2018. The results have also been presented in 9 international conferences. Finally, an international patent is obtained since fall 2017.

The READMI project is mainly dedicated to the remote energy input and the remote control of mechatronics systems of micro or meso-scaled mechatronic systems composed of several actuators. These two functions are often performed in a wired way and the increase of wires and connections is a recurrent problem in strongly miniaturised systems. The research works performed in the READMI project are linked to the microfactory/desktop factory concept in which the spacial and functional flexibilities are required as it is an evolvable production system. With the aim to allow flexible production, partners propose to develop the digital actuation principle at meso and micro scales, in order to avoid wires in the mechatronics system environment because this kind of actuators does not need closed loop control then no sensors. The smart control will enable to control selectively actuators, according to the wavelength of incident radiations, or a combination (duo, trio…) of wavelengths, each actuators being only active for a specific spectral stimulus. Moreover, partners of READMI project propose to integrate additional functions in these meso or microactuators, thus increasing the system smartness (position detection and remote communication of this position), without addition of wires nor energy overconsumption, thanks to low-level detectors integrated to the system and possessing miniaturised wireless communication modules and mechanical energy harvesting devices for their energy supply.
As a demonstration, these remote control and remote energy supply will be applied the problematic of meso and micro conveyance in the microfactory context. The long term objective is to provide smart conveyance systems for micro-objects entirely wireless and energetically autonomous. For this objective, partners will use their own existing research results and their complementary expertises (design of digital-actuation-based mechatronic systems, design of thin-layers optical filters, development of micro harvesting and storage energy sources, microfabrication techniques).
Experimental demonstrators based on these two technologies will be produced : the first one uses digital electromagnetic actuators controlled by selective spectral optical means and the second one composed of bistable structures actuated by shape memory alloys having a spectrally selective activation. A microfabricated electromagnetic demonstrator will enable to validate, in a first time, the principle of the remote control using photodetectors having independent quadrants, each one being selective for one unique wavelength. Two other demonstrators using bistable meso or micro structures actuated by shape memory alloys will also be developed because this technology is more adapted to both remote energy supply and wireless control in the same time. The first one of these demonstrators will enable, at the microscale, the validation of the coupling of energy supply and control without any wires in the workspace of the actuator, while the second one will enable to validate the principles of position detection and transmission of this position by radiofrequency means, as well as the mechanical or optical energy harvesting using piezoelectric or photoelectric components.

Project coordination

Frédéric LAMARQUE (Laboratoire Roberval)

The author of this summary is the project coordinator, who is responsible for the content of this summary. The ANR declines any responsibility as for its contents.

Partner

UPJV Laboratoire de Physique de la Matière Condensée - EA 2081
SYMME Laboratoire SYstèmes et Matériaux pour la MEcatronique - EA 4144
PSUD/IEF Institut d'Electronique Fondamentale
UTC Laboratoire Roberval

Help of the ANR 485,750 euros
Beginning and duration of the scientific project: October 2013 - 42 Months

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