A Digital Twin Framework for Virtual Visuo-Haptic Teleoperation of Complex-Shaped Optical Microrobots

2026-05-27

AI Summary

Existing teleoperation systems struggle to support high-fidelity visuo-haptic interaction for optically actuated microrobots with complex geometries in multi-optical-tweezer environments. This work proposes a digital twin–based teleoperation framework that, for the first time, integrates a multi-sphere distributed manipulation (MSDM) model with an optical tweezers toolbox. The framework incorporates image-driven pose and depth estimation, microrobot motion simulation, and model-driven haptic rendering within a ROS-based architecture. Evaluated on a simulated cell delivery task, the system substantially enhances operational performance: the standard deviations of contact force and the distance between the microrobot and optical tweezer centers are reduced by 53.2% and 55.2%, respectively, while task success rate improves from 30% to 80%.

Abstract

Optical tweezers (OT) provide piconewton-scale manipulation for delicate biomedical tasks, where visuo-haptic feedback can improve operator awareness by conveying interaction-force cues and trap-stability information. However, visuo-haptic teleoperation frameworks for complex-shaped optical microrobots remain underdeveloped, particularly in multi-trap manipulation scenarios. This paper presents a digital twin framework for virtual visuo-haptic teleoperation of complex-shaped OT-driven microrobots. The framework integrates a digital twin environment, image-based pose and depth estimation, microrobot motion simulation, and model-based haptic rendering within a Robot Operating System (ROS)-connected bimanual teleoperation system. For force modeling, we combine a Multi-Sphere Distributed Manipulation (MSDM) model with optical-force estimation from the Optical Tweezers Toolbox, enabling simulator-driven visuo-haptic feedback. The framework reproduces representative microrobot motion trends and provides haptic force rendering that is numerically consistent with the fitted optical-force model. In simulated cell-delivery tasks, haptic feedback reduced the standard deviations of the contact-force metric and the microrobot-to-trap-center distance metric by 53.2% and 55.2%, respectively, and improved task success from 30% to 80%. These results demonstrate the framework's effectiveness for evaluating visuo-haptic teleoperation strategies for complex-shaped optical microrobots.

Problem

• optical microrobots
• visuo-haptic teleoperation
• digital twin
• multi-trap manipulation
• optical tweezers

Innovation

• Digital Twin
• Visuo-Haptic Teleoperation
• Optical Tweezers
• Complex-Shaped Microrobots
• Multi-Sphere Distributed Manipulation