Electrostatically driven microgripper (original) (raw)
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A novel dual-axis electrostatic microactuation system for micromanipulation
2002
This paper presents the design, fabrication, modeling, and control of a dual-axis electrostatic microactuation system. To form the 3-D structure only three masks are used on silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafers using Deep Reactive Ion Etching (DRIE). The bulk micromachined high aspect ratio structure produces large force output, achieving the full motion range with 10.7V in x and 70.1V in y. To provide position feedback for high precision manipulation, a capacitive position sensing mechanism, capable of resolving position changes up to 5µm with a resolution of 0.01µm in both and is integrated. A nonlinear model inversion technique is proposed for nonlinear electrostatic microactuation system identification and improving system linearity and response. The effectiveness of the technique has been verified in experiments. The application of the system is for micromanipulation and microassembly. 12µm 50µm
A fabrication process for electrostatic microactuators with integrated gear linkages
Journal of Microelectromechanical Systems, 1997
A surface micromachining process is presented which has been used to fabricate electrostatic microactuators. These microactuators are interconnected with each other and linked to other movable microstructures by integrated gear linkages. The gear linkages consist of rotational and linear gear structures, and the electrostatic microactuators include curved electrode actuators, comb-drive actuators, and axial-gap wobble motors. The micromechanical structures are constructed from polysilicon. Silicon dioxide was used as a sacrificial layer, and silicon nitride was used for electrical insulation. A cyclohexane freeze drying technique was used to prevent problems with stiction. The actuators, loaded with various mechanisms, were successfully driven by electrostatic actuation. The work is a first step toward mechanical power transmission in micromechanical systems. [213]
Journal of Micro/Nanolithography, MEMS, and MOEMS, 2013
Recently, microgrippers are finding more importance in the field of tissue engineering and microassembly in semiconductor electronics. Large force and, hence, large displacement, low power, and low temperature are the essential features to be considered during the design of the microgrippers. The electrical and mechanical behaviors of electrothermally actuated silicon microgrippers are presented. The effect of increasing the flexure length and the cold arm area to improve the displacement is discussed. These microgrippers are normally of the open type, in which the arms have an initial open gap of 20 μm, and they move away from each other with the applied voltage. The displacement of each arm is observed to be 24 μm for the applied voltage of 10 V. The response time of the device is less than 5 ms, and the maximum power dissipation is 110 mW. The displacement of the microgrippers can be increased with increased flexure length and cold arm length with short extended arms. This structure also shows lower stress.
A mechanically actuated silicon microgripper for handling micro- and nanoparticles
Microelectronic Engineering, 2006
The characterization of micrometer and submicrometer particles requires in some cases their individual handling and manipulation. Electrical fields and potential differences may cause problems when biological structures are investigated in a life sustaining, thus electrically conductive environment. Therefore mechanical manipulation is preferable. We present a mechanically actuated microgripper fabricated in silicon by means of e-beam lithography, optical lithography and five deep etch processing steps.
Conceptual Design of a Micro Gripper with Electrostatic Micro Stepper-Motor Actuation
Micro grippers are essential tools for manipulation of objects in micron size. An electrostatic micro stepper-motor is used for actuating a proposed gripper mechanism and performance of this gripper is compared with the previous ones. The characteristic of the proposed mechanism is analyzed by simulation and it is shown that the designed gripper has the capability of doing manipulation in micron dimension with an acceptable performance.
Study and Design of Micro Gripper Driven by Electrothermal V - Shaped Actuator
JST: Smart Systems and Devices, 2020
This paper presents a design, calculation, simulation and fabrication of micro gripper driven by the electrothermal V-shaped actuator. The working principle of the V-shaped actuator bases on the thermal expansion of a thin beam when applying a voltage. The advantages of this design are large displacement amplification factor, large driving force, low voltage, simple configuration and control. The maximum displacement of each jaw can be up to 40µm at the calculated voltage of 17.35V and low operating frequency. Simulating displacement of the micro gripper in ANSYS multiphysics shows an average voltage deviation of 5.98% in comparison with calculation at the same displacement. The micro gripper has been fabricated successfully by using MEMS technology and SOI wafer. Measured result confirmed positive features of the system such as large displacement and low driving voltage (i.e. low power consumption). The next step, it can be integrated in micro-robot or in micro assembling systems t...
Silicon end-effectors for microgripping tasks
Precision Engineering, 2009
Micromanipulation is a key task to perform serial assembly of MEMS. The two-fingered microgrippers are usable but require specific studies to be able to work in the microworld. In this paper, we propose a new microgripping system where actuators and the end-effectors of the gripper are fabricated separately. End-effectors can thus be adapted to the manipulated micro-objects without new design and/or fabrication of the actuator. The assembly of the end-effectors on our piezoelectric actuators guarantee a great modularity for the system. This paper focuses on the original design, development and experimentation of new silicon end-effectors, compatible with our piezoelectric actuator. These innovative end-effectors are realized with the well known DRIE process and are able to perform micromanipulation tasks of objects whose typical size is between 5 µm and 1 mm.
Recently, microgrippers are finding more importance in the field of tissue engineering and microassembly in semiconductor electronics. Large force and, hence, large displacement, low power, and low temperature are the essential features to be considered during the design of the microgrippers. The electrical and mechanical behaviors of electrothermally actuated silicon microgrippers are presented. The effect of increasing the flexure length and the cold arm area to improve the displacement is discussed. These microgrippers are normally of the open type, in which the arms have an initial open gap of 20 μm, and they move away from each other with the applied voltage. The displacement of each arm is observed to be 24 μm for the applied voltage of 10 V. The response time of the device is less than 5 ms, and the maximum power dissipation is 110 mW. The displacement of the microgrippers can be increased with increased flexure length and cold arm length with short extended arms. This structure also shows lower stress.
Development of Electrostatic Microactuators: 5-Year Progress in Modeling, Design, and Applications
Micromachines
The implementation of electrostatic microactuators is one of the most popular technical solutions in the field of micropositioning due to their versatility and variety of possible operation modes and methods. Nevertheless, such uncertainty in existing possibilities creates the problem of choosing suitable methods. This paper provides an effort to classify electrostatic actuators and create a system in the variety of existing devices. Here is overviewed and classified a wide spectrum of electrostatic actuators developed in the last 5 years, including modeling of different designs, and their application in various devices. The paper provides examples of possible implementations, conclusions, and an extensive list of references.
Advanced Materials Research, 2010
By the growing development of micro electromechanical systems, the application of microgrippers for handling and assembling of microparts attracts more attention. In this paper, an electrostatic microgripper using comb drive mechanism is designed and a formulation is presented to predict the critical voltage for pull-in instability threshold. Then the advantages of a modified model of electrothermal U-shape actuator with large forces and bilateral displacement are utilized to amplify the output displacement range of microgripper prongs. To show this amplification, finite element simulations are performed on the primary and modified microgripper proposed models.