TABLE OF CONTENTS We believe that vector fields can be used as an abstraction barrier between applications requiring array micro-manipulation and MEMS devices implementing the requisite mechanical forces. That is, applications such as parts-feeding can be formulated in terms of the vector fields required. This then serves as a specification which the underlying MEMS device technology must deliver. Conversely, the capabilities of MEMS array technologies for actuation can be formulated in terms of the vector fields they can implement. For example, limitations in force magnitude are naturally expressed in vector field terms, as "small" vector fields. Restrictions in directional selectivity and magnitude control can also be manifested as restrictions on the vector field abstraction (resulting in discretization in orientation or modulus). This means that MEMS designers can potentially ignore certain details of the application process, and instead focus on matching the required vector field specification. Then, once the capabilities of MEMS actuator arrays were published as vector fields and tolerances, an application designer could look in a catalog to choose a device technology based on the field specification it promises to implement. This would free application engineers from needing to know much about process engineering, in the same way that software and algorithm designers often abstract away from details of the hardware. Such an abstraction barrier could permit hierarchical design, and allow application designs with greater independence from the underlying device technology. At the same time, abstraction barriers could allow MEMS array technologies to be designed simultaneously...
