A Self-Locking Electrostatic Microgripper
Main Article Content
Abstract
The paper presents design, calculation, and simulation of a novel electrostatically actuated microgripper with a self-locking mechanism. The working principle of the electrostatic comb-drive actuator (ECA) is based on the tangential electrostatic force when applying a voltage between two capacitors. The microgripper is driven by lateral comb-drive actuators with a maximum displacement which can be up to 40µm at the calculated voltage of 110.06 volt. Additionally, the self-locking mechanism which consists of two V-beams and ratchet racks at both sides will help the gripping jaws grip, lock and move micro samples without driving voltage. Both analytical calculation and finite element analysis (FEA) were performed to verify the advantages of the proposed design as well as test the maximum stress of the elastic components. Results show that both calculation and simulation displacement are quite close with the average deviation of 0.3%. The maximum error is approximately 1.23% at the driving voltage of 100 volts.
Keywords
Microgripper, electrostatic comb-drive actuator (ECA), self-locking mechanism, finite element analysis (FEA).
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
References
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[3] Qingsong Xu, Adaptive discrete-time sliding mode impedance control of a piezoelectric microgripper in IEEE Transactions on Robotics, vol. 29, iss. 3, Jun. 2013, pp. 663-673. https://doi.org/10.1109/TRO.2013.2239554
[4] Zhang Ran, Jinkui Chu, Haixiang Wang and Zhaopeng Chen, A multipurpose electrothermal microgripper for biological micro-manipulation, Microsystem Technologies, vol. 19, pp. 89–97, Jun. 2012. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00542-012-1567-0
[5] Khan Fahimullah, Shafaat A. Bazaz, and Muhammad Sohail, Design, implementation and testing of electrostatic SOI MUMPs based microgripper, Microsystem Technologies, vol. 16, pp. 1957–1965, Aug. 2010. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00542-010-1129-2
[6] William C. Tang et al., Electrostatic-comb drive of lateral polysilicon resonators, Sensors and Actuators A: Physical, vol. 21, iss. 1-3, pp. 328-331, Feb. 1990. https://doi.org/10.1016/0924-4247(90)85065-C
[7] Kim Keekyoung, et al., Nanonewton force-controlled manipulation of biological cells using a monolithic MEMS microgripper with two-axis force feedback, Journal of Micromechanics and Microengineering, vol. 18, no. 5, Apr. 2008. https://doi.org/10.1088/0960-1317/18/5/055013
[8] Wierzbicki R., et al., Design and fabrication of an electrostatically driven microgripper for blood vessel manipulation, Microelectronic Engineering, vol. 83, iss. 4-9, pp. 1651-1654, Apr-Sep. 2006. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mee.2006.01.110
[9] Kalaiarasi, A. R., and S. Hosimin Thilagar, Design and modeling of electrostatically actuated microgripper in Proceedings of 2012 IEEE/ASME 8th IEEE/ASME International Conference on Mechatronic and Embedded Systems and Applications, Suzhou, China, 08-10 Jul. 2012. https://doi.org/10.1109/MESA.2012.6275528
[10] Jia Yukun, Minping Jia, and Qingsong Xu, A dual-axis electrostatically driven MEMS microgripper, International Journal of Advanced Robotic Systems, vol. 11, iss. 11, pp. 187-196, Nov. 2014. https://doi.org/10.5772/59677 [11] Yongcun Hao, et al., Rotatory microgripper based on a linear electrostatic driving scheme, Microelectronic Engineering, vol. 248, Aug. 2021. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mee.2021.111601
[12] Millet Olivier, et al., Electrostatic actuated micro gripper using an amplification mechanism, Sensors and Actuators A: Physical, vol. 114, iss. 2-3, pp. 371-378, Sep. 2004. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sna.2003.11.004
[13] Chen Brandon K., Yong Zhang, and Yu Sun, Active release of micro-objects using a MEMS microgripper to overcome adhesion forces in Journal of Microelectromechanical Systems, vol. 18, iss. 3, Jun. 2009, pp. 652–659. https://doi.org/10.1109/JMEMS.2009.2020393
[14] Guangmin Yuan, et al., A microgripper with a post-assembly self-locking mechanism, Sensors, vol. 15, iss. 8, pp. 20140-20151, Aug. 2015. https://doi.org/10.3390/s150820140
[15] Hwang Il-Han, Yong-Gu Lee, and Jong-Hyun Lee, A micromachined friction meter for silicon sidewalls with consideration of contact surface shape, Journal of Micromechanics and Microengineering, vol. 16, no. 11, 2006.