Micro-Mechatronic Engineering, 2nd Edition

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22 pages, 2699 KB

Open AccessArticle

A Novel Continuous-Flow PCR Microdevice Operated by a Single Heat Source

by Weining Song, Di Wu, Yutong Xing and Wenming Wu

Micromachines 2026, 17(7), 805; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi17070805 - 30 Jun 2026

Viewed by 234

Abstract

This paper presents a constant-temperature, single-heat-source continuous-flow PCR (CF-PCR) microdevice that achieves stable thermal control for denaturation, annealing, and extension on a single platform. Key innovations include: (1) a metal-powder/PDMS thermal conduction block with trapezoidal geometry that generates a programmable temperature gradient and tunable residence times under one heat source; and (2) a thermoelectric cooler (TEC)-based Peltier system that creates distinct high- and low-temperature zones by co-optimizing the hot/cold side temperature difference, spacer material (92% alumina), and input voltage (3.6 V). A self-pressurized gas-diffusion micropump, enabled by a capillary quartz tube at the outlet, drives continuous sample flow without external actuation. The platform features three configurations: an on-chip zoned-heating design, an off-chip coiled-tube setup, and a battery-powered handheld system (727 g, 6 W, ~4 h runtime). Using CNC-machined and thermally bonded PMMA microchips with BSA passivation, the on-chip device achieves ~80% amplification efficiency relative to commercial instruments for H7N9 and pGEM-3Zf(+); the off-chip version reaches ~75%. The portable system yields HPV and RUBV amplification intensities comparable to benchtop devices. This approach provides a practical, scalable solution for “sample-in–answer-out” nucleic acid testing in point-of-care settings. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Micro-Mechatronic Engineering, 2nd Edition)

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16 pages, 5214 KB

Open AccessArticle

Design and Analysis of a Low-Coupling Parallel Piezoelectric Nanopositioner Based on a Pseudo-Symmetric Structure

by Lingchen Meng, Qi Wang, Tianyi Zhang and Peng Yan

Micromachines 2026, 17(7), 779; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi17070779 - 26 Jun 2026

Viewed by 258

Abstract

To meet the increasing demands for large stroke and low cross-axis coupling in precision instruments such as atomic force microscopy (AFM), a low-coupling parallel piezoelectric nanopositioning stage based on a pseudo-symmetric guiding mechanism is proposed. By integrating a compact flexure-based lever amplification mechanism with a parallel pseudo-symmetric guiding structure, the design achieves effective suppression of cross-axis coupling while maintaining a relatively large motion range. A static model is established based on Castigliano’s second theorem, and electromechanical coupled finite element analysis is performed to evaluate the output characteristics and dynamic behavior. A prototype is fabricated and experimentally validated. The results demonstrate that the stage achieves a travel range of 121 μm × 122 μm, a cross-axis coupling error ratio of 1.1%, resolutions of 7 nm and 5 nm along the X- and Y-axes, respectively, and a first natural frequency of 476 Hz. The proposed design provides a feasible approach for achieving a balance among large stroke, low coupling, and high dynamic performance in piezoelectric nanopositioning systems. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Micro-Mechatronic Engineering, 2nd Edition)

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25 pages, 3207 KB

Open AccessArticle

Systematic Annotation Framework for Robust Speech Recognition

by Zhong Wang, Chunjie Cao, Xia Xie, Yongqing Chen and Yuanbo Guo

Appl. Sci. 2026, 16(10), 4850; https://doi.org/10.3390/app16104850 - 13 May 2026

Viewed by 332

Abstract

This study proposes a systematic annotation framework to improve the robustness of end-to-end automatic speech recognition (ASR) in a complex low-resource dialect setting, using Hainan Lingao dialect as a case study. The framework consists of three components: semantically complete utterance segmentation instead of fixed-duration clipping; structured annotation at the lexical, sentence, and pragmatic-behavior levels, including explicit tags for dialectal variation, environmental noise, and unintelligible speech as well as rules for handling overlapping speech; and a three-stage quality-assurance workflow with iterative guideline refinement. The framework was implemented in the construction of a Hainan Lingao dialect corpus from 16 speakers and evaluated using 80 h/10 h/10 h training, validation, and test splits under an identical Conformer-based ASR configuration. Compared with a plain-transcription baseline using no special tags and fixed 3 s segmentation, the full specification reduced character error rate (CER) from 8.7% to 7.9%, 24.3% to 18.5%, 19.5% to 15.2%, and 15.2% to 13.1% on clean, noisy, dialogue, and dialect-variation test sets, respectively. The corresponding sentence error rate (SER) decreased from 17.5% to 15.2%, 39.6% to 32.1%, 34.2% to 27.8%, and 28.3% to 24.5%. Ablation experiments further examined the individual contributions of pragmatic-behavior tags, noise tags, semantic segmentation, and dialect-feature annotation. Paired bootstrap testing with 10,000 resamples showed that all baseline-to-full-specification improvements were statistically significant (p < 0.01). These results indicate that systematic annotation can improve ASR robustness in this Lingao low-resource dialect setting, with the largest relative CER reductions observed in the noisy (23.7%) and dialogue (22.1%) scenarios. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Micro-Mechatronic Engineering, 2nd Edition)

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20 pages, 11050 KB

Open AccessArticle

A High-Frame-Rate Display Method for Multiple Synergistic Digital Micromirror Devices Involving Large Target Surfaces

by Zheng Liu, Yingjie Wang, Jie Li, Xiayang Huang, Pengxi Liu, Wennan Cui and Tao Zhang

Micromachines 2026, 17(2), 189; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi17020189 - 30 Jan 2026

Viewed by 742

Abstract

This study proposed a large-target-surface and high-frame-rate display method using multiple Digital Micromirror Devices (DMDs) for high-resolution, high-frame-rate aerospace applications. DMDs offer high frame rates and contrast ratios, but their surface size is constrained. By employing Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) with synchronization signals for grayscale modulation and synchronizing multiple DMDs, this method achieved a target surface four times larger than a single DMD at 400 Hz frame rate, with synchronization errors below 10 ns. This enhances simulation efficiency and provides an effective infrared scene simulation solution. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Micro-Mechatronic Engineering, 2nd Edition)

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21 pages, 6256 KB

Open AccessArticle

Study on Corrugated Tube Structure Within the Tempcore Process Based on Large Steel Bar Cooling Efficiency

by Youhua Li, Kun Li, Qinglong Wang, Guangzhou Wang, Qing Hu, Guoqing Zhang, Wenbo Wang and Hechun Yu

Machines 2025, 13(9), 877; https://doi.org/10.3390/machines13090877 - 20 Sep 2025

Viewed by 1115

Abstract

As a key component of the Tempcore process, the Tempcore cooler plays a critical role in enhancing the cooling efficiency of steel bars. A cylindrical corrugated tube designed specifically for the Tempcore cooling process of large diameter steel bars, where the corrugated surface induces turbulence to enhance cooling efficiency. The influence of its structural parameters on the cooling performance was investigated through a combination of numerical simulations and experimental validation. First, based on the law of mass conservation, the influence of structural parameters of the corrugated tube on their internal flow field was analyzed. Then, a simulation model of the Tempcore cooler was developed to explore the variation in steel bar cooling efficiency under different structural parameters. The results show that increasing the maximum inner diameter of the corrugated tube enhances cooling efficiency, which subsequently tends to stabilize. With increasing minimum inner diameter and pitch, the cooling efficiency of the bars first increases and then decreases. And based on the influence of individual parameters, an orthogonal simulation was performed to identify the optimal corrugated tube structural configuration for achieving maximum cooling efficiency. The minimum inner diameter was identified as a critical factor influencing the heat transfer efficiency of the steel bar. Finally, based on the results of orthogonal simulations, five corrugated tubes were fabricated and integrated into the Tempcore cooler for experimental validation. The accuracy of the simulation was verified through microstructural analysis of the produced steel bars, which exhibited a 38% increase in martensite volume fraction. The designed corrugated tubes significantly improve the cooling efficiency of the Tempcore process without requiring an upgrade to the water supply system capacity. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Micro-Mechatronic Engineering, 2nd Edition)

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16 pages, 833 KB

Open AccessArticle

Research on Data Transmission of Laser Sensors for Reading Ruler

by Bailin Fan, JianWei Zhao, Rong Wang, Chen Lei, XiaoWu Li, ChaoYang Sun and Dazhi Zhang

Appl. Sci. 2025, 15(12), 6615; https://doi.org/10.3390/app15126615 - 12 Jun 2025

Viewed by 1006

Abstract

A coding ruler is a device that marks position information in the fordigital signals, and a code reader is a device that decodes the signals on the coding ruler and converts them into digital signals. The code reader and encoder ruler are key devices in ensuring the positioning accuracy of coke oven locomotives and the safety of coke production. They are common information transmission and positioning detection devices that can provide accurate monitoring and information feedback for the position and speed of coke oven locomotives. Four encoding methods were studied, namely, binary encoding, Gray code encoding, shift continuous encoding, and hybrid encoding. The application scenarios and encoding characteristics of each encoding method are summarized in this paper. Hybrid encoding combines the advantages of two different encoding methods, absolute and incremental encoding, to achieve higher accuracy and stability. Hybrid coding has high positioning accuracy in the long-range coke oven tampering tracks, ensuring the accuracy and high efficiency of the tampering operation. A certain number of opposing laser sensors are installed inside the code reader to obtain 0/1 encoding and read the movement displacement of the code reader on the ruler. In order to effectively detect the swing of the coding ruler, a certain number of distance sensors are installed on both sides and on the same side of the code reader. Ruler swing is accurately detected by the sensors, which output and process corresponding signals. Timely adjustment and correction measures are taken on the production line according to the test results, which not only improves detection accuracy but also enhances the stability and reliability of the system. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Micro-Mechatronic Engineering, 2nd Edition)

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14 pages, 17404 KB

Open AccessFeature PaperEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Reconfigurable Orbital Electrowetting for Controllable Droplet Transport on Slippery Surfaces

by Jiayao Wu, Huafei Li, Yifan Zhou, Ge Gao, Teng Zhou, Ziyu Wang and Huai Zheng

Micromachines 2025, 16(6), 618; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi16060618 - 25 May 2025

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 1978

Abstract

The controllable transport of droplets on solid surfaces is crucial for many applications, from water harvesting to bio-analysis. Herein, we propose a novel droplet transport controlling method, reconfigurable orbital electrowetting (ROEW) on inclined slippery liquid-infused porous surfaces (SLIPS), which enables controllable transport and dynamic handling of droplets by non-contact reconfiguration of orbital electrodes. The flexible reconfigurability is attributed to the non-contact wettability modulation and reversibly deformable flexible electrodes. ROEW graphically customizes stable wettability pathways by real-time and non-contact printing of charge-orbit patterns on SLIPS to support the continuous transport of droplets. Benefiting from the fast erase-writability of charges and the movability of non-contact electrodes, ROEW enables reconfiguration of the wetting pathways by designing electrode shapes and dynamically switching electrode configurations, achieving controllable transport of various pathways and dynamic handling of droplet sorting and mixing. ROEW provides a new approach for reconfigurable, electrode-free arrays and reusable microfluidics. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Micro-Mechatronic Engineering, 2nd Edition)

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15 pages, 2422 KB

Open AccessArticle

The Dielectrophoretic Interactions of Curved Particles in a DC Electric Field

by Zhiwei Huang, Tong Zhang, Jing Feng and Yage Wang

Micromachines 2025, 16(5), 596; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi16050596 - 20 May 2025

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1110

Abstract

In practical dielectrophoretic cell interaction experiments, cells do not always exhibit circular or rod-like shapes, making the study of dielectrophoretic interactions among irregularly shaped particles of significant importance. We established a mathematical model for curved particles to analyze their mutual dielectrophoretic interactions, incorporating particle deformability by varying their shear modulus, and employed the arbitrary Lagrangian–Eulerian method to describe particle motion and deformation. The results demonstrate that under the influence of a direct current electric field, curved particles undergo rotation, deformation, and mutual attraction due to dielectrophoresis, eventually forming a stable alignment parallel to the applied electric field. Adjusting the electric field strength effectively modulates the interaction intensity and movement velocity between particles. This study elucidates the fundamental principles governing dielectrophoretic interactions among deformable curved particles in DC electric fields, providing theoretical guidance for dielectrophoretic manipulation experiments involving biological cells, metallic particles, and other entities under DC electric fields. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Micro-Mechatronic Engineering, 2nd Edition)

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Journal Name	Impact Factor	CiteScore	Launched Year	First Decision (median)	APC
Applied Sciences applsci	2.9	6.1	2011	15 Days	CHF 2400	Submit
Electronics electronics	2.9	7.0	2012	14.8 Days	CHF 2400	Submit
Fluids fluids	2.1	4.1	2016	17 Days	CHF 1800	Submit
Machines machines	3.0	6.1	2013	15.9 Days	CHF 2400	Submit
Micromachines micromachines	3.5	7.1	2010	16.6 Days	CHF 2100	Submit

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