Biography
Yuen Kuan Yong received the B.Eng. degree (1st Class Hons.) in mechatronic engineering and the Ph.D. degree in mechanical engineering from The University of Adelaide, Australia, in 2001 and 2007, respectively. She was previously an Australian Research Council DECRA Fellow with the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, The University of Newcastle, Australia. Her research interests include the design and control of nanopositioning systems, high-speed atomic force microscopy, actuation and sensing of microcantilever, finite-element analysis of smart materials and structures, MEMS and miniature robots.
Dr. Yong is a recipient of the 2008 and 2016 IEEE/ASME International Conference on Advanced Intelligent Mechatronics (AIM) Best Conference Paper Finalist Award, The University of Newcastle Vice-Chancellor’s Awards for Research Excellence and the Pro Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Research Performance. She is an Associate Editor for the IEEE/ASME Transactions of Mechatronics, and the Frontiers in Mechanical Engineering (specialty section Mechatronics). She is also a steering committee member for the International Conference on Manipulation, Automation and Robotics at Small Scales (MARSS).
Awards/Fellowships
- 2016: Best Conference Paper Finalist Award at the IEEE/ASME International Conference on Advanced Intelligent Mechatronics (AIM).
- 2014: Vice-chancellor’s award for research excellence.
- 2014: Pro Vice-chancellor’s award for excellence in research performance.
- 2013: Australian Research Council DECRA – This award was highly competitive with a success rate of only 15.6%.
- 2012: University Postdoctoral Research Fellowship – one of the only four recipients at the University of Newcastle.
- 2008: Best Conference Paper Finalist Award at AIM – for the novel design and control techniques of nanopositioning devices.
Supervised Student Awards
- Shannon Rios – Best Student Conference Paper Finalist Award, the 2015 IEEE/ASME International Conference on Advanced Intelligent Mechatronics.
- Yik Ren Teo – Best Student Conference Paper Finalist, the 2015 IEEE Multi-Conference on Systems and Control (MSC).
- Sachin Wadikhaye – Best Postgraduate Research Poster, the 2012 IEEE Technologies of the Future.
Funding
- 2017: ARC Discovery Project, $296,000 (sole CI).
- 2015: University Strategic Pilot, $3,000 (Sole CI).
- 2013: University Strategic Pilot, $13,668 (Sole CI).
- 2013: ARC DECRA, $375,000 (Sole CI).
- 2012: University Postdoctoral Research Fellowship, $119,075.
- 2011: University Near Miss Grant, $25,000 (Second CI).
- 2010: University Special Project Grant, $18,000 (Sole CI).
- 2007: University Early Career Research Grant, A$15,500 (Sole CI).
Professional Activities
- Associate Editor: IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics, 2017.
- Associate Editor: Frontiers in Mechanical Engineering, specialty section Mechatronics (Nature Publishing Group), 2015 – present.
- Associate Editor: International Journal of Advanced Robotic Systems, 2012 – present.
- Steering Committee Member: International Conference on Manipulation, Automation and Robotics at Small Scales, Paris, France, 2016.
- Local Arrangement Chair: IEEE/ASME International Conference on Advanced Intelligent Mechatronics, Wollongong, Australia, 2013.
- Organising Committee Member: 2nd Workshop on Dynamics and Control of Micro and Nanoscale Systems, Newcastle, Australia, 2012.
- Invited sessions organizer:
- 2016 (lead organiser): “Design and Control of Precision Mechatronic Systems”, at the International Conference
on Manipulation, Automation and Robotics at Small Scales, Paris, France;
2014 (lead organiser) & 2015 (co-organiser): “Advances in Micro and Nano-Scale Positioning Systems: Design
and Control”, at the IEEE/ASME International Conference on Advanced Intelligent;
2012 (lead organiser): “Control of Micro and Nano Systems”, at the IEEE Conference on Decision and Control,
Maui, Hawaii;
2012 (lead organiser): “Compliant Nanopositioning”, at the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and
Automation, St. Paul, MN, USA.
- 2016 (lead organiser): “Design and Control of Precision Mechatronic Systems”, at the International Conference
- International Program Committee Member for the following conferences:
- IEEE/ASME International Conference on Advanced Intelligent Mechatronics, 2009 – 2013, 2017.
- IEEE Multiconference on Systems and Control, 2015.
- International Conference on Manipulation, Manufacturing and Measurement on the Nanoscale, 2011 – present.
- Asia International Symposium on Mechatronics, 2010.
Research Impact
- 74 Publications, 36 Journal Papers, 38 Conference Papers, 2 Book Chapters.
- 1716 Citations, H-index: 19 (Google Scholar).
- Consulting: 3M Ltd. Pty., Svitzer, PiezoDrive, etc.
Publications
2021
T. R. Young; M. S. Xavier; Y. K. Yong; A. J. Fleming
A Control and Drive System for Pneumatic Soft Robots: PneuSoRD Inproceedings
In: International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, Prague, Czech Republic , 2021, ISSN: 2153-0866.
@inproceedings{Young2021,
title = {A Control and Drive System for Pneumatic Soft Robots: PneuSoRD},
author = {T. R. Young and M. S. Xavier and Y. K. Yong and A. J. Fleming },
url = {https://www.precisionmechatronicslab.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/C21b.pdf},
doi = {10.1109/IROS51168.2021.9635874},
issn = {2153-0866},
year = {2021},
date = {2021-09-27},
urldate = {2021-09-27},
booktitle = {International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems},
address = {Prague, Czech Republic },
abstract = {This article describes an open-source hardware platform for controlling pneumatic soft robotic systems and presents the comparison of control schemes with on-off and proportional valves. The Pneumatic Soft Robotics Driver (PneuSoRD) can be used with up to one pump and pressure accumulator, 26 on-off valves, and 5 proportional valves, any of which can be operated in open or closed-loop control using up to 12 sensor inputs, which allows for the simultaneous control of a large number of soft actuators. The electronic driver connects to a National Instruments myRIO controller or an Arduino Due with the use of an adapter shield. A library of pressure control algorithms in both LabVIEW and Simulink is provided that includes bang-bang control, hysteresis control and PID control using on-off or proportional valves. LabVIEW and Simulink provide user-friendly interfaces for rapid prototyping of control algorithms and real-time evaluation of pressure dynamics. The characteristics and performance of these control methods and pneumatic setups are evaluated to simplify the choice of valves and control algorithm for a given application. },
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M. Omidbeike; S. I. Moore; Y. K. Yong; A. J. Fleming
Five-Axis Bimorph Monolithic Nanopositioning Stage: Design, Modeling, and Characterization Journal Article
In: Sensors and Actuators A: Physical, vol. 332, iss. 1, 2021, ISSN: 0924-4247.
@article{Omidbeike2021,
title = {Five-Axis Bimorph Monolithic Nanopositioning Stage: Design, Modeling, and Characterization},
author = {M. Omidbeike and S. I. Moore and Y. K. Yong and A. J. Fleming},
url = {https://www.precisionmechatronicslab.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/J21g.pdf},
doi = {10.1016/j.sna.2021.113125},
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year = {2021},
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journal = {Sensors and Actuators A: Physical},
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issue = {1},
abstract = {The article describes the design and modeling of a five-axis monolithic nanopositioning stage constructed from a bimorph piezoelectric sheet. Six-axis motion is also possible but requires 16 amplifier channels rather than 8. The nanopositioner is ultra low profile with a thickness of 1 mm. Analytical modeling and finite-element-analysis accurately predict the experimental performance. The stage was conservatively driven with 33% of the maximum voltage, which resulted in an X and Y travel range of 6.22 μm and 5.27 μm respectively; a Z travel range of 26.5 μm; and a rotational motion of 600 μrad and 884 μrad about the X and Y axis respectively. The first resonance frequency occurs at 883 Hz in the Z axis. Experimental atomic force microscopy is performed using the proposed device as a sample scanner.},
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M. G. Ruppert; N. F. S. de Bem; A. J. Fleming; Y. K. Yong
Characterization of Active Microcantilevers Using Laser Doppler Vibrometry Book Chapter
In: Vibration Engineering for a Sustainable Future , Chapter 45, Springer, 2021, ISBN: 978-3-030-48153-7.
@inbook{Ruppert2021b,
title = {Characterization of Active Microcantilevers Using Laser Doppler Vibrometry},
author = {M. G. Ruppert and N. F. S. de Bem and A. J. Fleming and Y. K. Yong},
url = {https://www.precisionmechatronicslab.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/BC21a.pdf},
doi = {10.1007/978-3-030-48153-7},
isbn = {978-3-030-48153-7},
year = {2021},
date = {2021-06-18},
urldate = {2021-06-18},
booktitle = {Vibration Engineering for a Sustainable Future
},
issuetitle = {Experiments, Materials and Signal Processing, Vol. 2},
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chapter = {45},
abstract = {Active atomic force microscope cantilevers with on-chip actuation and sensing provide several advantages over passive cantilevers which rely on piezoacoustic base-excitation and the optical beam deflection measurement. Most importantly, these cantilevers provide clean frequency responses, the possibility of down-scaling and parallelization to cantilever arrays as well as the absence of optical interferences. In this paper, we demonstrate the analysis and calibration steps for three active cantilever geometries with integrated piezoelectric actuation. For this purpose, laser Doppler vibrometry (LDV) is used to experimentally obtain the deflection mode shapes of the first three eigenmodes, calibrate actuation gains, and to determine the dynamic modal stiffnesses using the Brownian spectrum of the cantilever. The experimental values are compared with finite element simulations.},
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S. I. Moore; Y. K. Yong; M. Omidbeike; A. J. Fleming
Serial-kinematic monolithic nanopositioner with in-plane bender actuators Journal Article
In: Mechatronics, vol. 75, no. 102541, 2021, ISBN: 0957-4158.
@article{Moore2021,
title = {Serial-kinematic monolithic nanopositioner with in-plane bender actuators},
author = {S. I. Moore and Y. K. Yong and M. Omidbeike and A. J. Fleming},
url = {https://www.precisionmechatronicslab.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/J21c.pdf},
doi = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mechatronics.2021.102541},
isbn = {0957-4158},
year = {2021},
date = {2021-03-23},
journal = {Mechatronics},
volume = {75},
number = {102541},
abstract = {This article describes a monolithic nanopositioner constructed from in-plane bending actuators which provide greater deflection than previously reported extension actuators, at the expense of stiffness and resonance frequency. The proposed actuators are demonstrated by constructing an XY nanopositioning stage with a serial kinematic design. Analytical modeling and finite-element-analysis accurately predicts the experimental performance of the nanopositioner. A 10μm range is achieved in the X and Y axes with an applied voltage of +/-200 V. The first resonance mode occurs at 250 Hz in the Z axis. The stage is demonstrated for atomic force microscopy imaging.},
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M. S. Xavier; A. J. Fleming; Y. K. Yong
Finite Element Modeling of Soft Fluidic Actuators: Overview and Recent Developments Journal Article
In: Advanced Intelligent Systems, vol. 3, no. 2, pp. 2000187, 2021, ISBN: 2640-4567.
@article{J21b,
title = {Finite Element Modeling of Soft Fluidic Actuators: Overview and Recent Developments},
author = {M. S. Xavier and A. J. Fleming and Y. K. Yong},
url = {https://www.precisionmechatronicslab.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/J21b.pdf},
doi = {10.1002/aisy.202000187},
isbn = {2640-4567},
year = {2021},
date = {2021-02-01},
journal = {Advanced Intelligent Systems},
volume = {3},
number = {2},
pages = {2000187},
abstract = {Many soft robots are composed of soft fluidic actuators that are fabricated from silicone rubbers and use hydraulic or pneumatic actuation. The strong nonlinearities and complex geometries of soft actuators hinder the development of analytical models to describe their motion. Finite element modeling provides an effective solution to this issue and allows the user to predict performance and optimize soft actuator designs. Herein, the literature on a finite element analysis of soft actuators is reviewed. First, the required nonlinear elasticity concepts are introduced with a focus on the relevant models for soft robotics. In particular, the procedure for determining material constants for the hyperelastic models from material testing and curve fitting is explored. Then, a comprehensive review of constitutive model parameters for the most widely used silicone rubbers in the literature is provided. An overview of the procedure is provided for three commercially available software packages (Abaqus, Ansys, and COMSOL). The combination of modeling procedures, material properties, and design guidelines presented in this article can be used as a starting point for soft robotic actuator design.},
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2020

D. S. Raghunvanshi; S. I. Moore; A. J. Fleming; Y. K. Yong
Electrode Configurations for Piezoelectric Tube Actuators With Improved Scan Range and Reduced Cross-Coupling Journal Article
In: IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics, vol. 25, no. 3, pp. 1479-1486, 2020, ISSN: 00346748.
@article{J20d,
title = {Electrode Configurations for Piezoelectric Tube Actuators With Improved Scan Range and Reduced Cross-Coupling},
author = {D. S. Raghunvanshi and S. I. Moore and A. J. Fleming and Y. K. Yong},
url = {https://www.precisionmechatronicslab.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/J20d.pdf},
doi = {10.1109/TMECH.2020.2978241},
issn = {00346748},
year = {2020},
date = {2020-06-01},
journal = {IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics},
volume = {25},
number = {3},
pages = {1479-1486},
abstract = {Piezoelectric force and position sensors provide high sensitivity but are limited at low frequencies due to their high-pass response which complicates the direct application of integral control. To overcome this issue, an additional sensor or low-frequency correction method is typically employed. However, these approaches introduce an additional first-order response that must be higher than the high-pass response of the piezo and interface electronics. This article describes a simplified method for low-frequency correction that uses the piezoelectric sensor as an electrical component in a filter circuit. The resulting response is first-order, rather than second-order, with a cut-off frequency equal to that of a buffer circuit with the same input resistance. The proposed method is demonstrated to allow simultaneous damping and tracking control of a high-speed vertical nanopositioning stage.},
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S. I. Moore; M. G. Ruppert; Y. K. Yong
AFM Cantilever Design for Multimode Q Control: Arbitrary Placement of Higher-Order Modes Journal Article
In: IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics, pp. 1-6, 2020, (Early Access).
@article{Moore2020,
title = {AFM Cantilever Design for Multimode Q Control: Arbitrary Placement of Higher-Order Modes},
author = {S. I. Moore and M. G. Ruppert and Y. K. Yong},
url = {https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9006926},
doi = {10.1109/TMECH.2020.2975627},
year = {2020},
date = {2020-02-21},
journal = { IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics},
pages = {1-6},
abstract = {In the fast growing field of multifrequency atomic force microscopy (AFM), the benefits of using higher-order modes has been extensively reported on. However, higher modes of AFM cantilevers are difficult to instrument and Q control is challenging owing to their high frequency nature. At these high frequencies, the latencies in the computations and analog conversions of digital signal processing platforms become significant and limit the effective bandwidth of digital feedback controller implementations. To address this issue, this article presents a novel cantilever design for which the first five modes are placed within a 200 kHz bandwidth. The proposed cantilever is designed using a structural optimization routine. The close spacing and low mechanical bandwidth of the resulting cantilever allows for the implementation of Q controllers for all five modes using a standard FPGA development board for bimodal AFM and imaging on higher-order modes.},
note = {Early Access},
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2019

M. S. Xavier; A. J. Fleming; Y. K. Yong
Image-Guided Locomotion of a Pneumatic-Driven Peristaltic Soft Robot Inproceedings
In: IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Biomimetics, Dali, Yunnan, China, 2019, ISBN: 1-4244-0570-X.
@inproceedings{C19h,
title = {Image-Guided Locomotion of a Pneumatic-Driven Peristaltic Soft Robot},
author = {M. S. Xavier and A. J. Fleming and Y. K. Yong},
url = {https://www.precisionmechatronicslab.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/C19h.pdf},
doi = {10.1109/ROBIO49542.2019.8961406},
isbn = {1-4244-0570-X},
year = {2019},
date = {2019-12-06},
booktitle = {IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Biomimetics},
address = {Dali, Yunnan, China},
abstract = {In this work, a pneumatic-driven peristaltic soft robot with pressure feedback control and image-guided tracking is developed. Locomotion is achieved in tube-like environments by mimicking the peristaltic motion of earthworms. The soft actuators are made of silicone rubber with 3D molding and fiber reinforcements. Pressure control is performed using custom made syringe pumps and on/off controllers in Arduino. Realtime visual tracking is accomplished in OpenCV with a colorbased approach. The soft robot has a stroke of 30-35mm for each cycle of actuation. This pneumatic soft robot shows great potential for application in minimally invasive surgery due to its compliance and biocompatibility.},
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M. S. Xavier; A. J. Fleming; Y. K. Yong
Experimental Characterisation of Hydraulic Fiber-Reinforced Soft Actuators for Worm-Like Robots Inproceedings
In: International Conference on Control, Mechatronics and Automation, Delft, Netherlands, 2019, ISBN: 978-1-7281-3787-2.
@inproceedings{C19g,
title = {Experimental Characterisation of Hydraulic Fiber-Reinforced Soft Actuators for Worm-Like Robots},
author = {M. S. Xavier and A. J. Fleming and Y. K. Yong},
url = {https://www.precisionmechatronicslab.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/C19g-reduced.pdf},
doi = {10.1109/ICCMA46720.2019.8988691},
isbn = {978-1-7281-3787-2},
year = {2019},
date = {2019-11-06},
booktitle = {International Conference on Control, Mechatronics and Automation},
address = {Delft, Netherlands},
abstract = {This article describes the design and fabrication of fiber-reinforced soft actuators for a snake-like robot designed to operate inside constrained tubes. The actuators include bending, extension and torsion. These actuators were experimentally characterised using water as the driving fluid with the aid of a water pressure sensor connected to Arduino and video recordings. It is shown that fiber wrapping, geometry of cross-section and elastomer selection are the main parameters affecting the levels of extension, bending and torsion of these actuators. Then, multi-material soft actuators are developed and used to present a soft robot capable of crawling a pipe, a mechanism that could be explored in steerable catheters,endoscopes and pipe inspection devices.},
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K. Wang; M. G. Ruppert; C. Manzie; D. Nesic; Y. K. Yong
Scan Rate Adaptation for AFM Imaging Based on Performance Metric Optimisation Journal Article
In: IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics, 2019, (early access).
@article{Wang2019b,
title = {Scan Rate Adaptation for AFM Imaging Based on Performance Metric Optimisation},
author = {K. Wang and M. G. Ruppert and C. Manzie and D. Nesic and Y. K. Yong },
url = {https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/8867937},
doi = {10.1109/TMECH.2019.2947203},
year = {2019},
date = {2019-10-14},
journal = { IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics},
abstract = {Constant-force contact-mode atomic force microscopy (AFM) relies on a feedback control system to regulate the tip-sample interaction during imaging. Due to limitations in actuators and control, the bandwidth of the regulation system is typically small. Therefore, the scan rate is usually limited in order to guarantee a desirable image quality for a constant-rate scan. By adapting the scan rate online, further performance improvement is possible, and the conditions to this improvement has been explored qualitatively in a previous study for a wide class of possible scan patterns. In this paper, a quantitative assessment of the previously proposed adaptive scan scheme is investigated through experiments that explore the impact of various degrees of freedom in the algorithm. Further modifications to the existing scheme are proposed and shown to improve the closed-loop performance. The flexibility of the proposed approach is further demonstrated by applying the algorithm to tapping-mode AFM.},
note = {early access},
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S. I. Moore; A. J. Fleming; Y. K. Yong
Capacitive Instrumentation and Sensor Fusion for High-Bandwidth Nanopositioning Journal Article
In: IEEE Sensor Letters, vol. 3, no. 8, pp. 2501503, 2019, ISBN: 2475-1472.
@article{Moore2019,
title = {Capacitive Instrumentation and Sensor Fusion for High-Bandwidth Nanopositioning},
author = {S. I. Moore and A. J. Fleming and Y. K. Yong},
url = {https://www.precisionmechatronicslab.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/J19c.pdf},
doi = {10.1109/LSENS.2019.2933065},
isbn = {2475-1472},
year = {2019},
date = {2019-09-09},
journal = {IEEE Sensor Letters},
volume = {3},
number = {8},
pages = {2501503},
abstract = {Precision capacitive sensing methods encode the measurement in a high frequency signal, which requires demodulation. To extract the measurement, the signal is observed over many cycles limiting the bandwidth of the sensor and introducing an undesirable phase lag. To address this limitation, this article outlines a design, which fuses the output of a standard modulated capacitive sensor and a charge amplifier, providing an instantaneous capacitive measurement whose bandwidth is only limited by the speed at which the electronics operate.},
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S. I. Moore; M. G. Ruppert; Y. K. Yong
An optimization framework for the design of piezoelectric AFM cantilevers Journal Article
In: Precision Engineering, vol. 60, pp. 130-142, 2019.
@article{Moore2019c,
title = {An optimization framework for the design of piezoelectric AFM cantilevers},
author = {S. I. Moore and M. G. Ruppert and Y. K. Yong},
url = {https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0141635919302260},
year = {2019},
date = {2019-08-15},
journal = {Precision Engineering},
volume = {60},
pages = {130-142},
abstract = {To facilitate further miniaturization of atomic force microscopy (AFM) cantilevers and to eliminate the standard optical beam deflection sensor, integrated piezoelectric actuation and sensing on the chip level is a promising option. This article presents a topology optimization method for dynamic mode AFM cantilevers that maximizes the sensitivity of an integrated piezoelectric sensor under stiffness and resonance frequency constraints. Included in the formulation is a new material model C-SIMP (connectivity and solid isotropic material with penalization) that extends the SIMP model to explicitly include the penalization of unconnected structures. Example cantilever designs demonstrate the potential of the topology optimization method. The results show, firstly, the C-SIMP material model significantly reduces connectivity issues and, secondly, arbitrary cantilever topologies can produce increases in sensor sensitivity or resonance frequency compared to a rectangular topology.},
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S. I. Moore; M. G. Ruppert; D. M. Harcombe; A. J. Fleming; Y. K. Yong
Design and Analysis of Low-Distortion Demodulators for Modulated Sensors Journal Article
In: IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics, vol. 24, no. 4, pp. 1861-1870, 2019, ISSN: 10834435.
@article{Moore2019,
title = {Design and Analysis of Low-Distortion Demodulators for Modulated Sensors},
author = { S. I. Moore and M. G. Ruppert and D. M. Harcombe and A. J. Fleming and Y. K. Yong },
url = {https://www.precisionmechatronicslab.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/J19d-reduced.pdf},
doi = {10.1109/TMECH.2019.2928592},
issn = {10834435},
year = {2019},
date = {2019-07-17},
journal = {IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics},
volume = {24},
number = {4},
pages = {1861-1870},
abstract = {System-based demodulators in the form of a Kalman and Lyapunov filter have been demonstrated to significantly outperform traditional demodulators, such as the lock-in amplifier, in bandwidth sensitive applications, for example high-speed atomic force microscopy. Building on their closed loop architecture, this article describes a broader class of high-speed closed-loop demodulators. The generic structure provides greater flexibility to independently control the bandwidth and sensitivity to out-of-band frequencies. A linear time-invariant description is derived which allows the utilization of linear control theory to design the demodulator. Experimental results on a nanopositioner with capacitive sensors demonstrate the realization of arbitrary demodulator dynamics while achieving excellent noise rejection.},
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M. Omidbeike; A. A. Eielsen; Y. K. Yong; A. J. Fleming
Multivariable Model-less Feedforward Control of a Monolithic Nanopositioning Stage With FIR Filter Inversion Inproceedings
In: International Conference on Manipulation, Automation and Robotics at Small Scales (MARSS), Helsinki, Finland, 2019, ISSN: 978-1-7281-0948-0.
@inproceedings{C19d,
title = {Multivariable Model-less Feedforward Control of a Monolithic Nanopositioning Stage With FIR Filter Inversion},
author = {M. Omidbeike and A. A. Eielsen and Y. K. Yong and A. J. Fleming },
url = {https://www.precisionmechatronicslab.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/C19d.pdf},
doi = {10.1109/MARSS.2019.8860974},
issn = {978-1-7281-0948-0},
year = {2019},
date = {2019-07-02},
booktitle = {International Conference on Manipulation, Automation and Robotics at Small Scales (MARSS)},
address = {Helsinki, Finland},
abstract = {A model-less approach for inversion of the dynamics of multivariable systems using FIR filters is described. Inversion-based feedforward techniques have been widely used in the literature to achieve high-performance output tracking. The foremost difficulties associated with plant inversions are model uncertainties and non-minimum phase zeros. Various model-based methods have been proposed to exclude nonminimum phase zeros when inverting both single-input and single-output (SISO), and multiple-input and multiple-output (MIMO) systems. However, these methods increase the model uncertainty as they are no longer exact. To overcome these difficulties a model-less approach using FIR filters is presented. The results when applying the feedforward FIR filter to a multivariable nanopositioning system is presented, and they demonstrate the effectiveness of the feedforward technique in reducing the cross-coupling and achieving significantly improved output tracking.},
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M. Omidbeike; Y. K. Yong; S. I. Moore; A. J. Fleming
A Five-Axis Monolithic Nanopositioning Stage Constructed from a Bimorph Piezoelectric Sheet Inproceedings
In: International Conference on Manipulation, Automation and Robotics at Small Scales , Helsinki, Finland, 2019, ISSN: 978-1-7281-0948-0.
@inproceedings{omidbeike2019axis},
title = {A Five-Axis Monolithic Nanopositioning Stage Constructed from a Bimorph Piezoelectric Sheet},
author = {M. Omidbeike and Y. K. Yong and S. I. Moore and A. J. Fleming
},
url = {https://www.precisionmechatronicslab.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/C19a.pdf},
doi = {10.1109/MARSS.2019.8860940},
issn = {978-1-7281-0948-0},
year = {2019},
date = {2019-07-02},
urldate = {2019-07-02},
booktitle = {International Conference on Manipulation, Automation and Robotics at Small Scales },
journal = {Int. Conference on Manipulation, Automation and Robotics at Small Scales (MARSS)},
address = {Helsinki, Finland},
abstract = {The paper describes design, modeling and control of a five-axis monolithic nanopositioning stage constructed from a bimorph piezoelectric sheet. In this design, actuators are created by removing parts of the sheet using ultrasonic machining. The constructed nanopositioner is ultra-compact with a thickness of 1 mm. It has a X and Y travel range of 15.5 µm and 13.2 µm respectively; a Z travel range of 26 µm; and a rotational motion about the X-and Y-axis of 600 µrad and 884 µrad respectively. The first resonance frequency occurs at 883 Hz in the Z-axis, and the second and third resonance frequency appears at 1850 Hz, rotating about the X-and Y-axis. A decentralized control strategy is implemented to track Z, θx and θy motions. The controller provides good tracking and significantly reduces cross-coupling motions among the three degrees-of-freedom.},
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tppubtype = {inproceedings}
}

M. G. Ruppert; B. S. Routley; A. J. Fleming; Y. K. Yong; G. E. Fantner
Model-based Q Factor Control for Photothermally Excited Microcantilevers Inproceedings
In: Int. Conference on Manipulation, Automation and Robotics at Small Scales (MARSS), Helsinki, Finland, 2019, ISSN: 978-1-7281-0948-0.
@inproceedings{Ruppert2019,
title = {Model-based Q Factor Control for Photothermally Excited Microcantilevers},
author = {M. G. Ruppert and B. S. Routley and A. J. Fleming and Y. K. Yong and G. E. Fantner},
url = {https://www.precisionmechatronicslab.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/C19b.pdf},
doi = {10.1109/MARSS.2019.8860969},
issn = {978-1-7281-0948-0},
year = {2019},
date = {2019-07-01},
booktitle = {Int. Conference on Manipulation, Automation and Robotics at Small Scales (MARSS)},
address = {Helsinki, Finland},
abstract = {Photothermal excitation of the cantilever for dynamic atomic force microscopy (AFM) modes is an attractive actuation method as it provides clean cantilever actuation leading to well-defined frequency responses. Unlike conventional piezo-acoustic excitation of the cantilever, it allows for model-based quality (Q) factor control in order to increase the cantilever tracking bandwidth for tapping-mode AFM or to reduce resonant ringing for high-speed photothermal offresonance tapping (PORT) in ambient conditions. In this work, we present system identification, controller design and experimental results on controlling the Q factor of a photothermally driven cantilever. The work is expected to lay the groundwork for future implementations for high-speed PORT imaging in ambient conditions.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {inproceedings}
}

K. Wang; M. G. Ruppert; C. Manzie; D. Nesic; Y. K. Yong
Adaptive Scan for Atomic Force Microscopy Based on Online Optimisation: Theory and Experiment Journal Article
In: IEEE Transactions on Control System Technology, 2019, (accepted for publication).
@article{Wang2019,
title = {Adaptive Scan for Atomic Force Microscopy Based on Online Optimisation: Theory and Experiment},
author = {K. Wang and M. G. Ruppert and C. Manzie and D. Nesic and Y. K. Yong},
url = {https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/8643730},
year = {2019},
date = {2019-01-31},
journal = {IEEE Transactions on Control System Technology},
abstract = {A major challenge in Atomic Force Microscopy
(AFM) is to reduce the scan duration while retaining the
image quality. Conventionally, the scan rate is restricted to a
sufficiently small value in order to ensure a desirable image
quality as well as a safe tip-sample contact force. This usually
results in a conservative scan rate for samples that have a
large variation in aspect ratio and/or for scan patterns that
have a varying linear velocity. In this paper, an adaptive scan
scheme is proposed to alleviate this problem. A scan line-based
performance metric balancing both imaging speed and accuracy
is proposed, and the scan rate is adapted such that the metric
is optimised online in the presence of aspect ratio and/or linear
velocity variations. The online optimisation is achieved using an
extremum-seeking (ES) approach, and a semi-global practical
asymptotic stability (SGPAS) result is shown for the overall
system. Finally, the proposed scheme is demonstrated via both
simulation and experiment.},
note = {accepted for publication},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
(AFM) is to reduce the scan duration while retaining the
image quality. Conventionally, the scan rate is restricted to a
sufficiently small value in order to ensure a desirable image
quality as well as a safe tip-sample contact force. This usually
results in a conservative scan rate for samples that have a
large variation in aspect ratio and/or for scan patterns that
have a varying linear velocity. In this paper, an adaptive scan
scheme is proposed to alleviate this problem. A scan line-based
performance metric balancing both imaging speed and accuracy
is proposed, and the scan rate is adapted such that the metric
is optimised online in the presence of aspect ratio and/or linear
velocity variations. The online optimisation is achieved using an
extremum-seeking (ES) approach, and a semi-global practical
asymptotic stability (SGPAS) result is shown for the overall
system. Finally, the proposed scheme is demonstrated via both
simulation and experiment.

M. G. Ruppert; S. I. Moore; M. Zawierta; A. J. Fleming; G. Putrino; Y. K. Yong
Multimodal atomic force microscopy with optimized higher eigenmode sensitivity using on-chip piezoelectric actuation and sensing Journal Article
In: Nanotechnology, vol. 30, no. 8, pp. 085503, 2019.
@article{Ruppert2018b,
title = {Multimodal atomic force microscopy with optimized higher eigenmode sensitivity using on-chip piezoelectric actuation and sensing},
author = {M. G. Ruppert and S. I. Moore and M. Zawierta and A. J. Fleming and G. Putrino and Y. K. Yong},
url = {https://www.precisionmechatronicslab.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Ruppert_2019_Nanotechnology_30_085503.pdf},
doi = {https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6528/aae40b},
year = {2019},
date = {2019-01-02},
journal = {Nanotechnology},
volume = {30},
number = {8},
pages = {085503},
abstract = {Atomic force microscope (AFM) cantilevers with integrated actuation and sensing provide several distinct advantages over conventional cantilever instrumentation. These include clean frequency responses, the possibility of down-scaling and parallelization to cantilever arrays as well as the absence of optical interference. While cantilever microfabrication technology has continuously advanced over the years, the overall design has remained largely unchanged; a passive rectangular shaped cantilever design has been adopted as the industry wide standard. In this article, we demonstrate multimode AFM imaging on higher eigenmodes as well as bimodal AFM imaging with cantilevers using fully integrated piezoelectric actuation and sensing. The cantilever design maximizes the higher eigenmode deflection sensitivity by optimizing the transducer layout according to the strain mode shape. Without the need for feedthrough cancellation, the read-out method achieves close to zero actuator/sensor feedthrough and the sensitivity is sufficient to resolve the cantilever Brownian motion.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
2018

M. G. Ruppert; Y. K. Yong
Design of Hybrid Piezoelectric/Piezoresistive Cantilevers for Dynamic-mode Atomic Force Microscopy Inproceedings
In: IEEE/ASME Advanced Intelligent Mechatronics (AIM), Auckland, New Zealand, 2018.
@inproceedings{Ruppert2018b,
title = {Design of Hybrid Piezoelectric/Piezoresistive Cantilevers for Dynamic-mode Atomic Force Microscopy},
author = {M. G. Ruppert and Y. K. Yong},
year = {2018},
date = {2018-07-09},
booktitle = {IEEE/ASME Advanced Intelligent Mechatronics (AIM)},
address = {Auckland, New Zealand},
abstract = {Atomic force microscope cantilevers with integrated actuation and sensing on the chip level provide several distinct advantages over conventional cantilever instrumentation. These include clean frequency responses, the possibility of down-scaling and parallelization to cantilever arrays as well as the absence of optical interferences. However, the two major difficulties with integrated transduction methods are a complicated fabrication process, often involving a number of fabrication
steps, and a high amount of feedthrough from actuation to sensing electrodes. This work proposes two hybrid cantilever designs with piezoelectric actuators and piezoresistive sensors to reduce the actuator to sensor feedthrough. The designs can be realized using a commercial microelectromechanical systems fabrication process and only require a simple five-mask patterning and etching process. Finite element analysis results are presented to obtain modal responses, actuator gain and sensor sensitivities of the cantilever designs.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {inproceedings}
}
steps, and a high amount of feedthrough from actuation to sensing electrodes. This work proposes two hybrid cantilever designs with piezoelectric actuators and piezoresistive sensors to reduce the actuator to sensor feedthrough. The designs can be realized using a commercial microelectromechanical systems fabrication process and only require a simple five-mask patterning and etching process. Finite element analysis results are presented to obtain modal responses, actuator gain and sensor sensitivities of the cantilever designs.

S. I. Moore; M. G. Ruppert; Y. K. Yong
Arbitrary placement of AFM cantilever higher eigenmodes using structural optimization Inproceedings
In: International Conference on Manipulation, Automation and Robotics at Small Scales (MARSS), 2018.
@inproceedings{Moore2018,
title = {Arbitrary placement of AFM cantilever higher eigenmodes using structural optimization},
author = {S. I. Moore and M. G. Ruppert and Y. K. Yong},
year = {2018},
date = {2018-07-04},
booktitle = {International Conference on Manipulation, Automation and Robotics at Small Scales (MARSS)},
journal = {International Conference on Manipulation, Automation and Robotics at Small Scales (MARSS)},
abstract = {This article presents a novel cantilever design approach to place higher mode frequencies within a specific frequency band to alleviate instrumentation and Q control feasibility. This work is motivated by the emerging field of multifrequency atomic force microscopy (AFM) which involves the excitation and/or detection of several cantilever modes at once. Unlike other operating modes, multifrequency AFM allows the tracking of the sample topography on the fundamental mode while simultaneously acquiring complimentary nanomechanical information on a higher mode. However, higher modes of conventional rectangular tapping-mode cantilevers are usually in the MHz regime and therefore impose severe restrictions on the direct controllability of these modes. To overcome this limitation, an optimization technique is employed which is capable of placing the first five modes within a 200 kHz bandwidth.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {inproceedings}
}

S. I. Moore; M. Omidbeike; A. J. Fleming; Y. K. Yong
A monolithic serial-kinematic nanopositioner with integrated sensors and actuators Inproceedings
In: IEEE International Conference on Advanced Intelligent Mechatronics, Auckland, New Zealand, 2018.
@inproceedings{C18e,
title = {A monolithic serial-kinematic nanopositioner with integrated sensors and actuators},
author = {S. I. Moore and M. Omidbeike and A. J. Fleming and Y. K. Yong},
url = {https://www.precisionmechatronicslab.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/C18e.pdf},
doi = {10.1109/AIM.2018.8452225},
year = {2018},
date = {2018-07-04},
booktitle = {IEEE International Conference on Advanced Intelligent Mechatronics},
address = {Auckland, New Zealand},
abstract = {This article describes the design, modeling and simulation of a serial-kinematic nanopositioner machined from a single sheet of piezoelectric material. In this class of nanopositioners, the flexures, sensors and actuators are completely integrated into a single monolithic structure. A non-trivial electrode topology is etched into the sheet to achieve in-plane bending and displacement of the moving platform. Finite element analysis predicts a sensitivity of 18.6 nm/V in the x-axis and 18.1 nm/V in the yaxis with a voltage limit of −250V to 1000 V. The first resonance frequency is 250 Hz in the Z axis. This design enables high-speed, long-range, lateral positioning in space-limited applications.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {inproceedings}
}

S. Z. Mansour; R. J. Seethaler; Y. R. Teo; Y. K. Yong; A. J. Fleming
Piezoelectric Bimorph Actuator with Integrated Strain Sensing Electrodes Journal Article
In: IEEE Sensors Journal, vol. 18, no. 4, 2018, ISSN: 1530-437X.
@article{J18e,
title = {Piezoelectric Bimorph Actuator with Integrated Strain Sensing Electrodes},
author = {S. Z. Mansour and R. J. Seethaler and Y. R. Teo and Y. K. Yong and A. J. Fleming},
url = {https://www.precisionmechatronicslab.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/J18e.pdf},
doi = {10.1109/JSEN.2018.2842138},
issn = {1530-437X},
year = {2018},
date = {2018-07-01},
journal = {IEEE Sensors Journal},
volume = {18},
number = {4},
abstract = {This article describes a new method for estimating the tip displacement of piezoelectric benders. Two resistive strain gauges are fabricated within the top and bottom electrodes using an acid etching process. These strain gauges are employed in a half bridge electrical configuration to measure the surface resistance change, and estimate the tip displacement. Experimental validation shows a 1.1 % maximum difference between the strain sensor and a laser triangulation sensor. Using the presented method, a damping-integral control structure is designed to control the tip displacement of the integrated bender},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}

Y. R. Teo; Y. K. Yong; A. J. Fleming
A Comparison Of Scanning Methods And The Vertical Control Implications For Scanning Probe Microscopy Journal Article
In: Asian Journal of Control, vol. 30, no. 4, pp. 1-15, 2018.
@article{J18f,
title = {A Comparison Of Scanning Methods And The Vertical Control Implications For Scanning Probe Microscopy},
author = {Y. R. Teo and Y. K. Yong and A. J. Fleming},
url = {https://www.precisionmechatronicslab.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/J18f.pdf},
doi = {10.1002/asjc.1422},
year = {2018},
date = {2018-07-01},
journal = {Asian Journal of Control},
volume = {30},
number = {4},
pages = {1-15},
abstract = {This article compares the imaging performance of non-traditional scanning patterns for scanning probe microscopy including sinusoidal raster, spiral, and Lissajous patterns. The metrics under consideration include the probe velocity, scanning frequency, and required sampling rate. The probe velocity is investigated in detail as this quantity is proportional to the required bandwidth of the vertical feedback loop and has a major impact on image quality. By considering a sample with an impulsive Fourier transform, the effect of scanning trajectories on imaging quality can be observed and quantified. The non-linear trajectories are found to spread the topography signal bandwidth which has important implications for both low and high-speed imaging. These effects are studied analytically and demonstrated experimentally with a periodic calibration grating. },
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}

M. G. Ruppert; S. I. Moore; M. Zawierta; G. Putrino; Y. K. Yong
Advanced Sensing and Control with Active Cantilevers for Multimodal Atomic Force Microscopy Conference
7th Multifrequency AFM Conference, Madrid, Spain, 2018.
@conference{Ruppert2018,
title = {Advanced Sensing and Control with Active Cantilevers for Multimodal Atomic Force Microscopy},
author = {M. G. Ruppert and S. I. Moore and M. Zawierta and G. Putrino and Y. K. Yong},
year = {2018},
date = {2018-04-18},
booktitle = {7th Multifrequency AFM Conference},
address = {Madrid, Spain},
abstract = {Atomic force microscopy (AFM) cantilevers with integrated actuation and sensing on the chip level provide several distinct advantages over conventional cantilever instrumentation. These include clean frequency responses, the possibility of down-scaling and parallelization to cantilever arrays as well as the absence of optical interferences. While cantilever microfabrication technology has continuously advanced over the years, the overall design has remained largely unchanged; a passive rectangular shaped cantilever design has been adopted as the industry wide standard. Consequently, conventional cantilever instrumentation requires external piezo acoustic excitation as well as an external optical deflection sensor. Both of these components are not optimal for current trends in multifrequency AFM technology which revolve around further down-sizing, parallelization and measurements at multiple higher eigenmodes. Using microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) fabrication processes, this work aims to optimize cantilever instrumentation by realizing a new class of probes with high-performance integrated actuators and sensors. Equipped with multiple integrated piezoelectric layers for both actuation and sensing, these cantilevers are capable of achieving an increased higher eigenmode sensitivity and/or guaranteed collocated system properties compared to commercially available counterparts; examples of such designs are shown in Figure 1. The geometry as well as the integrated actuator/sensor arrangement is optimized using finite element modelling with individual design goals. The designs are realized using a commercial MEMS fabrication process and only require a simple five-mask patterning and etching process and post-fabricated sharp tips.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {conference}
}

S. A. Rios; A. J. Fleming; Y. K. Yong
Monolithic Piezoelectric Insect with Resonance Walking Journal Article
In: IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics, vol. 23, no. 2, pp. 524-530, 2018, ISSN: 10834435.
@article{J18a,
title = {Monolithic Piezoelectric Insect with Resonance Walking},
author = {S. A. Rios and A. J. Fleming and Y. K. Yong},
url = {https://www.precisionmechatronicslab.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/J18a.pdf},
doi = {10.1109/tmech.2018.2792618},
issn = {10834435},
year = {2018},
date = {2018-02-01},
journal = {IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics},
volume = {23},
number = {2},
pages = {524-530},
abstract = {This article describes the design, manufacture and performance of an untethered hexapod robot titled MinRAR V2. This robot utilizes a monolithic piezoelectric element, machined to allow for individual activation of bending actuators. The legs were designed so that the first two resonance modes overlap and therefore produce a walking motion at resonance. The monolithic construction significantly improves the matching of resonance modes between legs when compared to previous designs. Miniature control and high voltage driving electronics were designed to drive 24 separate piezoelectric elements powered from a single 3.7 V lithium polymer battery. The robot was driven both tethered and untethered and was able to achieve a maximum forward velocity of 98 mm/s when driven at 190 Hz and 6 mm/s at 5 Hz untethered. The robot is capable of a wide range of movements including banking, on the spot turning and reverse motion.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}

A. Bazaei; Z. Cheng; Y. K. Yong; S. O. R. Moheimani
A Novel State Transformation Approach to Tracking of Piecewise Linear Trajectories Journal Article
In: IEEE Transactions on Control Systems Technology, vol. 26, no. 1, pp. 128 - 138, 2018.
@article{Bazaei2018,
title = {A Novel State Transformation Approach to Tracking of Piecewise Linear Trajectories},
author = {A. Bazaei and Z. Cheng and Y. K. Yong and S. O. R. Moheimani},
url = {https://www.precisionmechatronicslab.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/07851084.pdf},
doi = {10.1109/TCST.2017.2654061},
year = {2018},
date = {2018-01-01},
journal = {IEEE Transactions on Control Systems Technology},
volume = {26},
number = {1},
pages = {128 - 138},
abstract = {In this paper, we propose a novel approach for tracking of piecewise linear trajectories, such as triangular and staircase waveforms. We derive state and input transformations, which result in closed-loop error dynamics driven by a series of impulses. The proposed control structure takes the form of an output-feedback-feedforward system that is straightforward to implement. In contrast to the recently proposed tracking control methods for such trajectories, the closed-loop stability is not affected by the frequency of the desired triangular reference.
The method is implemented on a nanopositioner serving as the
scanning stage of an atomic force microscope.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
The method is implemented on a nanopositioner serving as the
scanning stage of an atomic force microscope.
2017

A. J. Fleming; Y. K. Yong
An Ultra-thin Monolithic XY Nanopositioning Stage Constructed from a Single Sheet of Piezoelectric Material Journal Article
In: IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics, vol. 22, no. 6, pp. 2611-2618, 2017, ISBN: 1083-4435.
@article{J17k,
title = {An Ultra-thin Monolithic XY Nanopositioning Stage Constructed from a Single Sheet of Piezoelectric Material},
author = {A. J. Fleming and Y. K. Yong},
url = {https://www.precisionmechatronicslab.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/J17k.pdf},
doi = {10.1109/TMECH.2017.2755659},
isbn = {1083-4435},
year = {2017},
date = {2017-12-20},
journal = {IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics},
volume = {22},
number = {6},
pages = {2611-2618},
abstract = {The article describes an XY nanopositioning stage constructed from flexures and actuators machined into a single sheet of piezoelectric material. Ultrasonic machining is used to remove piezoelectric material and create electrode features. The constructed device is 0.508mm thick and has a travel range of 8.8um in the X and Y axes. The first resonance mode occurs at 597Hz which makes the device suitable for a wide range of standard nanopositioning applications where cost and size are considerations. Experimental atomic force microscopy is performed using the proposed device as a sample scanner.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}

S. Z. Mansour; R. J. Seethaler; Y. R. Teo; Y. K. Yong; A. J. Fleming
Piezoelectric Bimorph Actuator with Integrated Strain Sensing Electrodes Inproceedings
In: IEEE Sensors, Glasgow, Scotland, 2017.
@inproceedings{C17f,
title = {Piezoelectric Bimorph Actuator with Integrated Strain Sensing Electrodes},
author = {S. Z. Mansour and R. J. Seethaler and Y. R. Teo and Y. K. Yong and A. J. Fleming},
url = {https://www.precisionmechatronicslab.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Bender-paper.pdf},
year = {2017},
date = {2017-11-01},
booktitle = {IEEE Sensors},
address = {Glasgow, Scotland},
abstract = {This article describes a new method for estimating the tip displacement of piezoelectric benders. Two resistive strain gauges are fabricated within the top and bottom electrodes using an acid etching process. These strain gauges are employed in a half bridge electrical configuration to measure the surface resistance change, and estimate the tip displacement. Experimental validation shows a 1.1 % maximum difference between the strain sensor and a laser triangulation sensor.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {inproceedings}
}

M. G. Ruppert; Y. K. Yong
Note: Guaranteed collocated multimode control of an atomic force microscope cantilever using on-chip piezoelectric actuation and sensing Journal Article
In: Review of Scientific Instruments, vol. 88, no. 086109, 2017.
@article{Ruppert2017b,
title = {Note: Guaranteed collocated multimode control of an atomic force microscope cantilever using on-chip piezoelectric actuation and sensing},
author = {M. G. Ruppert and Y. K. Yong},
url = {https://www.precisionmechatronicslab.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/2017_JNote_RSI_Vol88_086109-2.pdf},
doi = {10.1063/1.4990451},
year = {2017},
date = {2017-08-15},
journal = {Review of Scientific Instruments},
volume = {88},
number = {086109},
abstract = {The quality (Q) factor is an important parameter of the resonance of the microcantilever as it determines
both imaging bandwidth and force sensitivity. The ability to control the Q factor of multiple
modes is believed to be of great benefit for atomic force microscopy techniques involving multiple
eigenmodes. In this paper, we propose a novel cantilever design employing multiple piezoelectric
transducers which are used for separated actuation and sensing, leading to guaranteed collocation
of the first eight eigenmodes up to 3 MHz. The design minimizes the feedthrough usually observed
with these systems by incorporating a guard trace on the cantilever chip. As a result, a multimode
Q controller is demonstrated to be able to modify the quality factor of the first two eigenmodes over
up to four orders of magnitude without sacrificing robust stability.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
both imaging bandwidth and force sensitivity. The ability to control the Q factor of multiple
modes is believed to be of great benefit for atomic force microscopy techniques involving multiple
eigenmodes. In this paper, we propose a novel cantilever design employing multiple piezoelectric
transducers which are used for separated actuation and sensing, leading to guaranteed collocation
of the first eight eigenmodes up to 3 MHz. The design minimizes the feedthrough usually observed
with these systems by incorporating a guard trace on the cantilever chip. As a result, a multimode
Q controller is demonstrated to be able to modify the quality factor of the first two eigenmodes over
up to four orders of magnitude without sacrificing robust stability.

Y. K. Yong; A. J. Fleming
An Improved Low-frequency Correction Technique for Piezoelectric Force Sensors in High-speed Nanopositioning Systems Journal Article
In: Review of Scientific Instruments, vol. 88, no. 046105, pp. 1-3, 2017.
@article{J17f,
title = {An Improved Low-frequency Correction Technique for Piezoelectric Force Sensors in High-speed Nanopositioning Systems},
author = {Y. K. Yong and A. J. Fleming},
url = {https://www.precisionmechatronicslab.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Yong2017_note.pdf},
year = {2017},
date = {2017-08-02},
journal = {Review of Scientific Instruments},
volume = {88},
number = {046105},
pages = {1-3},
abstract = {Piezoelectric force and position sensors provide high sensitivity but are limited at low frequencies due to their high-pass response which complicates the direct application of integral control. To overcome this issue, an additional sensor or low-frequency correction method is typically employed. However, these approaches introduce an additional first-order response that must be higher than the high-pass response of the piezo and interface electronics. This article describes a simplified method for low-frequency correction that uses the piezoelectric sensor as an electrical component in a filter circuit. The resulting response is first-order, rather than second-order, with a cut-off frequency equal to that of a buffer circuit with the same input resistance. The proposed method is demonstrated to allow simultaneous damping and tracking control of a high-speed vertical nanopositioning stage},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}

M. Omidbeike; Y. R. Teo; Y. K. Yong; A. J. Fleming
Tracking Control of a Monolithic Piezoelectric Nanopositioning Stage using an Integrated Sensor Inproceedings
In: IFAC World Congress, Toulouse, France, 2017.
@inproceedings{C17d,
title = {Tracking Control of a Monolithic Piezoelectric Nanopositioning Stage using an Integrated Sensor},
author = {M. Omidbeike and Y. R. Teo and Y. K. Yong and A. J. Fleming},
year = {2017},
date = {2017-07-09},
booktitle = {IFAC World Congress},
address = {Toulouse, France},
abstract = {This article describes a method for tracking control of monolithic nanopositioning systems using integrated piezoelectric sensors. The monolithic nanopositioner is constructed from a single sheet of piezoelectric material where a set of flexures are used for actuation and guidance, and another set are used for position sensing. This arrangement is shown to be highly sensitive to in-plane motion (in the x- and y-axis) and insensitive to vertical motion, which is ideal for position tracking control.
The foremost difficulty with piezoelectric sensors is their low-frequency high-pass response. In this article, a simple estimator circuit is used to allow the direct application of integral tracking control. Although the system operates in open-loop at DC, dynamic command signals such as scanning trajectories are accurately tracked. Experimental results show significant improvements in linearity and positioning error. },
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {inproceedings}
}
The foremost difficulty with piezoelectric sensors is their low-frequency high-pass response. In this article, a simple estimator circuit is used to allow the direct application of integral tracking control. Although the system operates in open-loop at DC, dynamic command signals such as scanning trajectories are accurately tracked. Experimental results show significant improvements in linearity and positioning error.

S. I. Moore; M. G. Ruppert; Y. K. Yong
Design and Analysis of Piezoelectric Cantilevers with Enhanced Higher Eigenmodes for Atomic Force Microscopy Inproceedings
In: IEEE/ASME Advanced Intelligent Mechatronics (AIM), Munich, Germany, 2017.
@inproceedings{Moore2017b,
title = {Design and Analysis of Piezoelectric Cantilevers with Enhanced Higher Eigenmodes for Atomic Force Microscopy},
author = {S. I. Moore and M. G. Ruppert and Y. K. Yong},
year = {2017},
date = {2017-07-02},
booktitle = {IEEE/ASME Advanced Intelligent Mechatronics (AIM)},
address = {Munich, Germany},
abstract = {Atomic force microscope (AFM) cantilevers with
integrated actuation and sensing provide several distinct advantages
over conventional cantilever instrumentation such as
clean frequency responses, the possibility of down-scaling and
parallelization to cantilever arrays as well as the absence of optical
interferences. However, for multifrequency AFM techniques
involving higher eigenmodes of the cantilever, optimization
of the transducer location and layout has to be taken into
account. This work proposes multiple integrated piezoelectric
regions on the cantilever which maximize the deflection of the
cantilever and the piezoelectric charge response for a given
higher eigenmode based on the spatial strain distribution. Finite
element analysis is performed to find the optimal transducer
topology and experimental results are presented which highlight
an actuation gain improvement up to 42 dB on the third mode
and sensor sensitivity improvement up to 38 dB on the second
mode.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {inproceedings}
}
integrated actuation and sensing provide several distinct advantages
over conventional cantilever instrumentation such as
clean frequency responses, the possibility of down-scaling and
parallelization to cantilever arrays as well as the absence of optical
interferences. However, for multifrequency AFM techniques
involving higher eigenmodes of the cantilever, optimization
of the transducer location and layout has to be taken into
account. This work proposes multiple integrated piezoelectric
regions on the cantilever which maximize the deflection of the
cantilever and the piezoelectric charge response for a given
higher eigenmode based on the spatial strain distribution. Finite
element analysis is performed to find the optimal transducer
topology and experimental results are presented which highlight
an actuation gain improvement up to 42 dB on the third mode
and sensor sensitivity improvement up to 38 dB on the second
mode.

S. I. Moore; Y. K. Yong
Design and Characterization of Cantilevers for Multi-Frequency Atomic Force Microscopy Journal Article
In: Micro & Nano Letters, vol. 12, no. 5, pp. 315-320, 2017.
@article{Moore2017,
title = {Design and Characterization of Cantilevers for Multi-Frequency Atomic Force Microscopy},
author = {S. I. Moore and Y. K. Yong},
url = {https://www.precisionmechatronicslab.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/MNL.2016.0586.pdf},
doi = {10.1049/mnl.2016.0586},
year = {2017},
date = {2017-03-01},
journal = {Micro & Nano Letters},
volume = {12},
number = {5},
pages = {315-320},
abstract = {The experimental characterisation of a set of microcantilevers targeted at use in multi-frequency atomic force microscope is presented. The aim of this work is to design a cantilever that naturally amplifies its harmonic oscillations which are introduced by nonlinear probe–sample
interaction forces. This is performed by placing the modal frequencies of the cantilever at integer multiples of the first modal frequency. The developed routine demonstrates the placement of the frequency of the second to fifth mode. The characterisation shows a trend that
lower-order modes are more accurately placed than higher-order modes. With two fabricated designs, the error in the second mode is at most 2.26% while the greatest error in the fifth mode is at 10.5%.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
interaction forces. This is performed by placing the modal frequencies of the cantilever at integer multiples of the first modal frequency. The developed routine demonstrates the placement of the frequency of the second to fifth mode. The characterisation shows a trend that
lower-order modes are more accurately placed than higher-order modes. With two fabricated designs, the error in the second mode is at most 2.26% while the greatest error in the fifth mode is at 10.5%.

S. I. Moore; Y. K. Yong; S. O. R. Moheimani
Switched Self-Sensing Actuator for a MEMS Nanopositioner Inproceedings
In: International Conference on Mechatronics, Gippsland, Australia, 2017.
@inproceedings{Moore2017b,
title = {Switched Self-Sensing Actuator for a MEMS Nanopositioner},
author = {S. I. Moore and Y. K. Yong and S. O. R. Moheimani},
url = {https://www.precisionmechatronicslab.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/sensor-note.pdf},
year = {2017},
date = {2017-02-15},
booktitle = {International Conference on Mechatronics},
address = {Gippsland, Australia},
abstract = {This work outlines the instrumentation and actuation of a MEMS nanopositioner, implementing a switching electronics based self-sensing actuation technique. Self-sensing actuation allows for optimal use of transducer die space in MEMS designs. The switching design accommodates actuation voltages of 50V and is compatible with the silicon-on-insulator microfabrication process. The switching electronics are designed to be directly interfaced to a digital control platform. The actuator is based on the class D amplifier and the sensor is implemented using a modulator to create a displacement-to-digital type sensor that is operated at 1MHz.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {inproceedings}
}

S. I. Moore; M. G. Ruppert; Y. K. Yong
Multimodal cantilevers with novel piezoelectric layer topology for sensitivity enhancement Journal Article
In: Beilstein Journal of Nanotechnology, vol. 8, pp. 358–371, 2017.
@article{Moore2017b,
title = {Multimodal cantilevers with novel piezoelectric layer topology for sensitivity enhancement},
author = {S. I. Moore and M. G. Ruppert and Y. K. Yong},
url = {https://www.precisionmechatronicslab.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/2190-4286-8-38.pdf},
year = {2017},
date = {2017-02-06},
journal = {Beilstein Journal of Nanotechnology},
volume = {8},
pages = {358--371},
abstract = {Self-sensing techniques for atomic force microscope (AFM) cantilevers have several advantageous characteristics compared to the optical beam deflection method. The possibility of down scaling, parallelization of cantilever arrays and the absence of optical interference associated imaging artifacts have led to an increased research interest in these methods. However, for multifrequency AFM, the optimization of the transducer layout on the cantilever for higher order modes has not been addressed. To fully utilize an integrated piezoelectric transducer, this work alters the layout of the piezoelectric layer to maximize both the deflection of the cantilever and measured piezoelectric charge response for a given mode with respect to the spatial distribution of the strain. On a prototype cantilever design, significant increases in actuator and sensor sensitivities were achieved for the first four modes without any substantial increase in sensor noise. The transduction mechanism is specifically targeted at multifrequency AFM and has the potential to provide higher resolution imaging on higher order modes.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}

A. Bazaei; Y. K. Yong; S. O. R. Moheimani
Combining Spiral Scanning and Internal Model Control for Sequential AFM Imaging at Video Rate Journal Article
In: IEEE Transactions on Mechatronics, vol. 22, no. 1, pp. 371-380, 2017.
@article{Bazaei2017,
title = {Combining Spiral Scanning and Internal Model Control for Sequential AFM Imaging at Video Rate},
author = {A. Bazaei and Y. K. Yong and S. O. R. Moheimani },
url = {https://www.precisionmechatronicslab.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/07482697.pdf},
year = {2017},
date = {2017-02-01},
journal = {IEEE Transactions on Mechatronics},
volume = {22},
number = {1},
pages = {371-380},
abstract = {We report on the application of internal model control for accurate tracking of a spiral trajectory for atomic force microscopy (AFM). With a closed-loop bandwidth of only 300 Hz, we achieved tracking errors as low as 0.31% of the scan diameter and an ultravideo frame rate for a high pitch (30 nm) spiral trajectory generated by amplitude modulation of 3 kHz sinusoids. Design and synthesis procedures are proposed for a smooth modulating waveform to minimize the steady-state tracking error during sequential imaging. To obtain AFM images under the constant force condition, a high bandwidth analogue proportional integral controller is applied to the damped z-axis of a flexure nanopositioner. Efficacy of the proposed method was demonstrated by artifact-free images at a rate of 37.5 frames/s.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}

S. A. Rios; A. J. Fleming; Y. K. Yong
Miniature Resonant Ambulatory Robot Journal Article
In: IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, vol. 2, no. 1, pp. 337–343, 2017, ISSN: 2377-3766.
@article{J17a,
title = {Miniature Resonant Ambulatory Robot},
author = {S. A. Rios and A. J. Fleming and Y. K. Yong},
url = {https://www.precisionmechatronicslab.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/J17a.pdf},
doi = {10.1109/LRA.2016.2614837},
issn = {2377-3766},
year = {2017},
date = {2017-01-01},
journal = {IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters},
volume = {2},
number = {1},
pages = {337--343},
abstract = {This article describes the design, manufacture, and performance of a prototype miniature resonant ambulatory robot that uses piezoelectric actuators to achieve locomotion. Each leg is comprised of two piezoelectric bimorph benders, joined at the tip by a flexure and end effector. Combinations of amplitude and phase can be used to produce a wide range of motions including swinging and lifting. A lumped mass model previously developed is described as a design tool to tune the resonance modes of the end effector. The completed robot was driven with frequencies up to 500 Hz resulting in a maximum forward velocity of approximately 520 mm/s at 350 Hz. A frequency analysis was also performed to determine the effects of ground contact on the performance of the robot. This analysis showed a significant reduction in the resonance gain and frequency.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
2016

Y. K. Yong
Preloading Piezoelectric Stack Actuator in High-speed Nanopositioning Systems Journal Article
In: Frontiers in Mechanical Engineering, vol. 2, pp. 1-9, 2016.
@article{Yong2016c,
title = {Preloading Piezoelectric Stack Actuator in High-speed Nanopositioning Systems},
author = {Y. K. Yong},
url = {https://www.precisionmechatronicslab.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/fmech-02-00008-1.pdf},
year = {2016},
date = {2016-12-12},
journal = {Frontiers in Mechanical Engineering},
volume = {2},
pages = {1-9},
abstract = {Recent development in high-speed nanotechnology applications, such as scanning probe microscopy and nanofabrication, has increased interest on the advancement of high-bandwidth flexure-guided nanopositioning systems. These systems are capable of providing motions with sub-nanometer resolution over a positioning bandwidth of a few kilohertz or more. High-speed nanopositioning devices are commonly driven by compact and stiff piezoelectric stack actuators. However, these actuators are highly sensitive to tensile and lateral forces. During high-speed operations, excessive inertia force due to the effective mass of nanopositioning system could potentially damage the actuator. To protect the piezoelectric actuator, preload is often applied to compensate for these inertial forces. This article surveys key challenges in existing preload techniques in the context of high-speed nanopositioning designs, and explores how these challenges can be overcome.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}

Y. K. Yong; A. J. Fleming
High-speed Vertical Positioning Stage with Integrated Dual-sensor Arrangement Journal Article
In: Sensors & Actuators: A. Physical, vol. 248, pp. 184–192, 2016.
@article{J16d,
title = {High-speed Vertical Positioning Stage with Integrated Dual-sensor Arrangement},
author = {Y. K. Yong and A. J. Fleming},
url = {https://www.precisionmechatronicslab.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/1-s2.0-S0924424716303302-main-1.pdf},
doi = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sna.2016.06.042},
year = {2016},
date = {2016-12-01},
journal = {Sensors & Actuators: A. Physical},
volume = {248},
pages = {184--192},
abstract = {This article presents a novel vertical positioning stage with a dual-sensor arrangement suitable for scanning probe microscopy. The stage has a travel range of 8.4um and a first resonance frequency of 24kHz in the direction of travel. The sensor arrangement consists of an integrated piezoelectric force sensor and laminated piezoresistive strain sensor. The piezoelectric force sensor exhibits extremely low noise and introduces a zero into the dynamics which allows the use of integral force feedback. This control method provides excellent damping performance and guaranteed stability. The piezoresistive sensor is used for tracking control with an analog PI controller which is shown to be an approximate inverse of the damped system. The resulting closed-loop system has a bandwidth is 11.4kHz and 6-sigma resolution of 3.6nm, which is ideal for nanopositioning and atomic force microscopy (AFM) applications. The proposed vertical stage is used to replace the vertical axis of a commercial AFM. Scans are performed in constant-force contact mode with a tip velocity of 0.2mm/s, 1mm/s and 2mm/s. The recorded images contain negligible artefacts due to insufficient vertical bandwidth.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}

Y. K. Yong; S. P. Wadikhaye; A. J. Fleming
High-Speed Single-Stage and Dual-Stage Vertical Positioners Journal Article
In: Review of Scientific Instruments, vol. 87, no. 085104, pp. (1-8), 2016.
@article{J16e,
title = {High-Speed Single-Stage and Dual-Stage Vertical Positioners},
author = {Y. K. Yong and S. P. Wadikhaye and A. J. Fleming },
url = {https://www.precisionmechatronicslab.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/J16e.pdf},
year = {2016},
date = {2016-09-01},
journal = {Review of Scientific Instruments},
volume = {87},
number = {085104},
pages = {(1-8)},
abstract = {This article presents a high-speed single- and dual-stage vertical positioner for applications in optical systems. Each positioner employs a unique end-constraint method with orthogonal flexures to preload a piezoelectric stack actuator. This end-constraint method also significantly increases the first mechanical resonance frequency. The single-stage positioner has a displacement range of 7.6um and a first resonance frequency of 46.8kHz. The dual-stage design consists of a long-range slow-stage and a short-range fast-stage. An inertial counterbalance technique was implemented on the fast-stage to cancel inertial forces resulting from high-speed motion. The dual-stage positioner has a combined travel range of approximately 10um and a first evident resonance frequency of 130kHz.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}