MINIMAX Lab

Advanced Mechatronics II

ME 348F / ME 392Q · Senior and Graduate Level
Instructor: Dr. Fangzhou Xia

Lecture: Tuesday/Thursday, 12:30–2:00 pm · ETC 2.140
Lab sessions: Tuesday/Thursday, 2:00–4:00 pm · ETC 3.148
Weekly contact time: 3 hours of lecture + 2 hours of lab

Build an atomic force microscope through interdisciplinary theory and hands-on practice. Advanced Mechatronics II connects precision instrumentation, transducers, MEMS, dynamic modeling, feedback control, electronics and LabVIEW.

Students from science and engineering disciplines are welcome, including those developing instruments for their own experiments.

Course Image Gallery

A stepper-driven lead-screw linear stage, three stepper-and-screw drive assemblies, and an assembled Attocube scanner.

Motorized Positioning Stages

Stepper-driven lead screws and an
assembled Attocube scanner provide
different ways to position a sample.

Summing Amplifier

A summing amplifier combines inputs
through weighted resistances to form
one inverted output voltage.

Complete native-vector vibration controller with disturbance observer, PI loops for hand unit and moving mass, plant blocks, delay, sensors, and all feedback paths.

OHT-FOUP Vibration Control

A disturbance observer and PI loops
coordinate the hand unit and mass
to suppress OHT-FOUP vibration.

Original face-free OpenGL scene diagram showing the Pikachu model, video-background plane and labeled three-dimensional coordinate axes.

Pikachu in OpenGL

An OpenGL scene positions Pikachu
within a three-dimensional view
for augmented-reality visualization.

Two-by-two arrangement of Bruker Dimension Icon, Nanosurf Alphacen 300 Flex, Park Systems industrial AFM and nano analytik active-probe wafer inspection photographs.

AFM Instruments

Four commercial AFM systems show
research and industrial approaches
to surface and wafer inspection.

3D-Printer AFM

An Ender 3 printer becomes a large
scanning-probe instrument that maps
surface shape with force feedback.

Complete planar four-bar and spatial linkage illustrations beneath their native mobility equations.

Four-Bar Linkages

Rigid links and joints constrain
planar and spatial motion according
to their available degrees of freedom.

FACT Flexure Design

The FACT chart organizes compliant
constraint geometries by the number
of permitted degrees of freedom.

A uniform cantilever and its first three normalized analytical bending modes, including axes, nodal points and natural-frequency equations.

Cantilever Vibration Modes

The first three cantilever modes
show how bending shape and frequency
depend on beam stiffness and inertia.

$The complete stress-strain curve with Young's modulus, yield strength, ultimate strength, necking and fracture, beside a tested specimen and a dimensioned specimen drawing.$

Stress-Strain Behavior

A tensile test connects elastic
stiffness, yielding and strain
hardening with necking and fracture.

Complete labeled gear-type chart beneath the native equation relating gear ratio to angular speeds, tooth counts and torques.

Gears and Motion Transfer

Spur, helical, bevel and worm gears
transfer rotation with ratios set
by their geometry and tooth counts.

Complete PNP and NPN semiconductor structures above a bipolar transistor carrier-flow and bias-circuit illustration.

Bipolar Transistors

PNP and NPN junctions illustrate how
carriers move between the emitter,
base and collector of a transistor.

Complete labeled multilayer printed-circuit-board cross-section showing copper layers, vias, core, prepreg and surface layers.

Multilayer PCB

Copper layers and plated vias connect
electronic components while insulating
layers separate the signal paths.

Three complete aligned panels of low-pass, high-pass and band-pass magnitude/phase responses and their corresponding resistor-capacitor circuits.

Analog Filter Responses

RC circuits produce low-pass,
high-pass and band-pass responses
with distinct amplitude and phase.

Full Arduino Micro board pinout with colored labels for AVR, digital, analog, power, serial, SPI, I2C, PWM and interrupts.

Microcontroller Interfaces

The Arduino Micro pin map identifies
power, digital and analog I/O along
with PWM and serial interfaces.

Lock-in Amplifier

Two reference phases and low-pass
filters extract quadrature signals
to measure amplitude and phase.

Complete electrical and mass-spring-damper piezo model beside a force-versus-voltage hysteresis graph with both branches and its original legend.

Piezo Model and Hysteresis

A lumped piezo model links electrical
drive to motion while hysteresis
makes the response path dependent.

Complete magnitude and phase frequency-response plots compare model and test data, above the source symbolic and fitted transfer-function equations.

Frequency-Response Fitting

Frequency sweeps reveal resonances
that a fitted transfer function uses
to model the measured system dynamics.

Complete PID architecture with reference and error signals, proportional, integral and derivative equations, summing junctions, plant block, output and feedback path.

PID Feedback Control

Proportional, integral and derivative
actions combine the tracking error
to regulate a closed-loop system.

Complete Kalman filter diagram showing the actual sinusoidal system, measurement and process noise, Kalman gain, model and covariance estimates, residual feedback, and amplitude and phase outputs.

Kalman Filter Demodulation

A Kalman filter combines a signal
model with noisy measurements to
estimate signal amplitude and phase.

Complete AFM image comparison table for voltage drive and charge control at 5, 50, and 100 hertz, beside 400-hertz triangular tracking and error plots with all legends and scale bars.

Hysteresis Compensation

Voltage and charge drive comparisons
show how compensation improves AFM
tracking and imaging at higher rates.

Complete LabVIEW temperature-measurement front panel beside its complete graphical block diagram, including timing input, measurement loop and temperature chart.

LabVIEW Panel and Code

A LabVIEW front panel pairs controls
and indicators with graphical code
for temperature data acquisition.

Complete processor pipeline diagram labeled instruction fetch, instruction decode/register fetch, execute/address calculation, memory access and write back.

CPU Instruction Pipeline

A processor passes instructions
through fetch, decode, execute,
memory access and write-back stages.

Complete SPI timing diagram with clock polarity alternatives, slave-select signal, numbered cycles, and MISO/MOSI data timing for both clock phases.

SPI Communication Timing

SPI clock polarity and phase define
the signal edges that shift and sample
data during each bus transaction.

Complete normal and ventricular-arrhythmia ECG time plots beside a spectrogram, preserving all time axes, frequency axis and color scale.

Time-Frequency Analysis

ECG traces and a spectrogram reveal
how short-time Fourier analysis
tracks signal changes over time.

Complete CompactRIO cRIO-9074 features and resources diagram with chassis and NI9401, NI9205, NI9263 and NI9505 module photos.

CompactRIO System

CompactRIO combines real-time control
and FPGA logic with modular analog,
digital and motor-drive interfaces.

Gauge-factor equations, labeled strain-gauge construction, a mounted sensor photograph and a complete strain-rosette diagram.

Resistive Strain Gauges

Strain gauges convert deformation
into resistance changes for measuring
strain along selected directions.

Complete parallel-plate capacitor and capacitance equation, measurement electronics, guarded probe and two touch-sensing states.

Capacitive Sensing

Plate geometry changes capacitance
so guarded probes and touch sensors
can detect position or proximity.

Complete wave-superposition equations, interfering waveforms, optical interferometer elements and laser instrument photograph.

Laser Interferometry

Optical interference compares the
phase of light waves to measure
small changes in displacement.

Labeled permanent-magnet DC motor and complete separate, series, shunt and compound winding circuit classification.

DC Motor Transduction

Magnetic fields and winding currents
produce torque in DC motors with
different excitation configurations.

Complete single-element, stack and ring actuator diagrams preserve voltage, polarization and dimension labels beside commercial actuator photographs.

Piezoelectric Actuators

Piezoelectric elements, stacks and
rings convert an applied voltage
into controlled mechanical motion.

Complete labeled AFM cantilever geometry and dimensions, laser-quadrant-photodiode optical lever, and piezoacoustic excitation figure.

Optical Beam Deflection

A laser reflected by the cantilever
shifts across a quadrant photodiode
to measure the bending of an AFM probe.

Thermal Evaporation

Heating a source inside a vacuum
chamber deposits a thin material film
on the substrate placed above it.

Photolithography

Positive and negative photoresists
transfer mask patterns for etching,
doping, deposition or lift-off.

Aerosol Jet Printing

Aerosol deposition and controlled
drying build microscale structures
through selective material placement.

Two-Photon Polymerization

A focused laser defines a tiny
polymerized volume that builds up
three-dimensional microstructures.

Complete historical photograph of Manfred von Ardenne's scanning electron microscope, identified as 1937 in the lecture.

SEM Instrument

A historical electron microscope
built by Manfred von Ardenne in 1937
illustrates early scanning microscopy.

Complete MEMS accelerometer and gyroscope figures with an MPU6050 six-axis IMU board.

MEMS Inertial Sensors

Microfabricated accelerometers and
gyroscopes combine with electronics
to sense linear and angular motion.

Complete AFM instrument photograph and subsystem diagram covering the nanopositioner, sensor and actuator, probe, controller and data logging.

AFM System Overview

A probe, scanner, deflection sensor
and feedback controller work together
to map the topography of a sample.

Complete active-cantilever circuit and SEM panels with three optical microscope views of the assembled probe.

Active Cantilever Probe

Piezoresistive sensing and thermal
actuation share an active cantilever
for compact AFM force measurement.

Complete contact, dynamic and jumping mode diagram with all original mode labels and the course peak-force-tapping annotation.

AFM Imaging Modes

Contact, dynamic and jumping modes
use different tip motions to measure
interactions with a sample surface.

Complete AFM analysis pipeline with time scale, data size, data type and automation level, paired with the multidimensional data-cube and pixel-parameter diagrams.

AFM Data and Hyper-Pixels

AFM acquisition and processing turn
multichannel data into hyper-pixels
that retain local material responses.

Complete multi-panel electrical scanning-probe figure from Hui and Lanza, Scanning probe microscopy for advanced nanoelectronics, Nature Electronics, 2019.

AFM for Nanoelectronics

Electrical scanning-probe methods
characterize nanoscale devices and
their local electronic properties.

Complete mounting photograph, strain-gauge readout-board photograph, and loaded-cantilever diagram.

Strain-Gauge Attachment

A strain gauge attached to a ruler
connects to readout electronics that
measure the cantilever bending load.

Complete labeled DM320T motor-driver wiring diagram with myRIO signal table, power-supply wiring and motor connections.

Stepper Motor Control

A myRIO output commands a driver
connected to a power supply and motor
for controlled stepping motion.

LabVIEW Frequency Sweep

A LabVIEW interface sweeps a motor
through excitation frequencies and
displays amplitude and phase response.

Four complete panels show flexure-stage dimensions, FEA with its color scale, a labeled stacked-buzzer cross-section, and the assembled scanner.

Custom Scanner Design

Flexure geometry and simulation
guide stacked-buzzer actuation in
a fabricated scanning-stage prototype.

Student AFM Topography

A student-acquired AFM image shows
surface topography reconstructed
from the laboratory measurement.

Course Philosophy

Advanced Mechatronics develops practical engineering skills through interdisciplinary, hands-on learning. Students first build a toolbox for mechatronic system development, then apply it to functional scanning probe microscopes at different length scales. Working in small teams, they connect conceptual design, analytical modeling, numerical simulation, prototyping, control and measurement. Two projects—a macroscopic scanning probe system and an atomic force microscope—provide opportunities to test system performance and learn from one another.

Learning Objectives

By the end of the course, students will be able to:

Explain the operating principles of common mechatronic components.
Apply engineering tools to develop concepts and build physical prototypes.
Analyze systems using analytical models and numerical simulations.
Design systems to meet specified functions and performance targets.
Evaluate performance using sensor measurements and data analysis.
Collaborate in teams to solve practical mechatronics design problems.

Mechatronics Toolbox

Build, Test and Image

Two guided team projects connect macroscopic understanding with microscopic realization. Students bring mechanical design, electronics, modeling and control together in an atomic force microscope.

Applications across Engineering and Science

Textbooks and Interactive Simulations

Book: F. Xia, I. W. Rangelow and K. Youcef-Toumi, Active Probe Atomic Force Microscopy: A Practical Guide on Precision Instrumentation, Springer, 2024. Publisher and citation.

AFM SMILER paper: F. Xia, S. Lovett, E. Forsythe, M. Ibrahim and K. Youcef-Toumi, “AFM SMILER: A Scale Model Interactive Learning Extended Reality Toolkit for Atomic Force Microscopy Created With Digital Twin Technology,” IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics, 28(4), 2101–2109, 2023. Read the paper · DOI: 10.1109/TMECH.2023.3274695.

Forthcoming: A Systems Approach to Mechatronics, Volume I — to be released in 2027.

Students from all science and engineering disciplines are welcome. Non-ME enrollment requires approval. Consult the syllabus and university course schedule for the current offering.

Back to MINIMAX Teaching

Advanced Mechatronics II

Course Image Gallery

Course Philosophy

Learning Objectives

How AFM Works

Build a Complete Instrument

Mechatronics Toolbox

Mechanics and Design

Dynamics and Modeling

Feedback and System Identification

Sensors and Imaging

Electronics and PCB

Real-Time Software and DSP

Build, Test and Image

Macroscopic AFM

LabVIEW code & front panel

Optical beam deflection

Active probe setup

Student scanner design

Student AFM topography

Applications across Engineering and Science

Physics: 2D moiré patterns

Biomedical: DNA on mica

Chemical: dissolution dynamics

Materials: modulus mapping

Semiconductor: metrology

Multi-modal spectroscopy

Textbooks and Interactive Simulations

Active Probe Atomic Force Microscopy

AFM SMILER

A Systems Approach to Mechatronics