Macro-scale atomic force microscope: An experimental platform for teaching precision mechatronics

A macro-scale atomic force microscope (macro-AFM) has been designed and used for teaching precision mechatronics. The macro-AFM uses a novel electromagnetic self-sensing self-actuating probe. It operates in frequency-modulation AFM (FM-AFM) mode with intermittent contact. The AFM has an imaging volume of 250 mm × 40 mm × 1 mm with a resolution of about 1 μm at 1 Hz measurement bandwidth. The macro-AFM is simple and relatively inexpensive to build. It is scaled to make motion visible to the eye and is robust for a lab environment, all of which make it an affordable and effective educational tool. The macro-AFM is used in Mechatronics (2.737), a graduate level course at MIT, where in a series of 11 laboratory exercises, the students assembled and programmed the AFM system. This article provides the design and theory used for making and controlling the macro-AFM, as well as experimental results.