Design and fabrication of a novel microgripper based on electrostatic actuation

Abstract

This paper introduces a parallel-plate electrostatic microgripper fabricated in a standard surface micromachining technology. The simplicity of the design makes the gripper practical for a broad range of applications in biomedicine and microrobotics. Analytical models and experimental results are provided in support of the design.

Survey on Recent Designs of Compliant Micro-/Nano-Positioning Stages

“…However, ETA's working principle governs that it has some problems like low frequency, high power consumption and nonlinear movement [41,42]. Nevertheless, the high operating temperature may have a great impact on the ambient environment and operated target [43][44][45].…”

Overview of flexure-based compliant microgrippers

“…Fig. 1 shows an example of the implementation of a comb-drive based microgripper (Varona et al 2009).…”

“…When a voltage is applied to the actuator, one terminal is attached to the stator combs while the other terminal is connected to the rotor combs as shown in Fig. 1 Typical comb-drive based microgripper actuator (Varona et al 2009) Fig. 2 (a) Voltage applied to actuator combs (b) Gripper arm bent due to force applied by the comb drives (Amjad et al 2008) Attraction force is produced between the comb fingers.…”

“…Electrothermal actuators operate with low voltages and offer large output force. Yet, its use in applicable microgrippers is limited due to the high power consumption and high operating temperatures, which are unsuitable for biological and microrobotics uses (Varona et al 2009). shows an electrothermal microgripper which contains a pair of gripping jaws driven by a pair of electrothermal actuators and an integrated sensor.…”

“…The SMA like NiTi is based on a unique capability of reversible plastic deformation. It can be allowed to attain certain shape of the material when heated and then, when cooled down, it can fully or partially recover its original shape (Varona et al 2009).…”