Mechanical Engineering Commons^™

Controlled Manipulation Of Floating Objects On Deformed Fluid Interfaces And Conditions For Stable Equilibria, Jose M. Carballo, Qi Ni, Jose Vasquez, Nathan B. Crane

Faculty Publications

At the millimeter scale, interactions between floating and semi-immersed objects are significant. The local curvature of the interface is modified by the weight/buoyancy forces of floating objects, and by the surface properties of semi-immersed objects. The curvature changes generate attractive (or repulsive) interactions between floating parts, and semi-immersed objects. This work demonstrates how electrowetting can manipulate these interactions in order to position, align, assemble and transport parts attached to the fluid interface. This demonstrates one way in which fluid interfaces can provide an alternative to standard pick and place technology for part positioning/assembly. Typically, the part/rod forces are purely attractive …