Miniature robot with micro capillary capturing probe

Abstract

In this report, a micro capillary capturing probe which is based on surface tension of water is described. This probe is composed of a capillary of glass, small solenoids and micro magnetic piston. Quick reciprocating motion of magnetic piston which is accelerated by solenoids current can push and pull the water in capillary. At the end of capillary, the water drop can grow to reach the small object on the surface, contain it with help of surface tension and retract into the capillary. Simple principle and design will be discussed and the experimental results of capturing small objects will be demonstrated. Also we successfully implement this active probe into our miniature precise robot for surface clearing operation.

Capillary Gripping and Self-Alignment: A Route Toward Autonomous Heterogeneous Assembly

“…In the limit of submillimetric droplets, accurate positioning and/or force feedback are typically employed to avoid potentially damaging impacts between gripper and components. A prior gripper had a water-filled glass capillary whose pushpull action deformed the protruding water drop to change the working range of the gripper [27]. We developed a compliant capillary gripper by using a shock insulator lock (formed by a sliding piston, see Fig.…”

Unified View of Robotic Microhandling and Self‐Assembly

“…For example, a microhandling strategy using a capillary gripper, which picks parts by capillary force, has been developed [2]. For such a gripper, releasing can be achieved with a creative combination of capillary forces and inertia [35].…”

“…The lack of medium affects various things: (1) the capillary force of water, which has a strong contribution to adhesion in air, is nonexisting; (2) because there is no medium, van der Waals forces could be stronger; (3) because vacuum environment is often in SEM, where there will be a lot of electrostatic charges, electrostatic interactions will be more significant; (4) thermal conduction through tool and substrate is the major method of heat transportation, and radiation is usually insignificant; proper system design is important to avoid heat buildup and its consequences.…”

Automatic dextrous microhandling based on a 6-DOF microgripper

“…A microgripper can handle objects by applying force mechanically using various actuators [41]; or handle objects by other techniques, such as vacuum [40,42], electrostatic force [43,44], capillary force [45,46], ice [47] and airflow (Benoulli effect) [48]. Besides mechanical microgrippers, vacuum microgrippers are especially widely used in handling larger microparts of hundreds of microns due to their simplicity.…”