A Comprehensive Survey on Microgrippers Design: Operational Strategy
01 Jul 2017-Journal of Mechanical Design (American Society of Mechanical Engineers Digital Collection)-Vol. 139, Iss: 7, pp 070801
About: This article is published in Journal of Mechanical Design.The article was published on 2017-07-01. It has received 66 citations till now.
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76 citations
TL;DR: A review of electrothermal micro-actuators and applications is presented in this paper, where the three main configurations of electro-thermal actuators are discussed: hot-and-cold-arm, chevron, and bimorph.
Abstract: This paper presents a review of electrothermal micro-actuators and applications. Electrothermal micro-actuators have been a significant research interest over the last two decades, and many different designs and applications have been investigated. The electrothermal actuation method offers several advantages when compared with the other types of actuation approaches based on electrostatic and piezoelectric principles. The electrothermal method offers flexibility in the choice of materials, low-cost fabrication, and large displacement capabilities. The three main configurations of electrothermal actuators are discussed: hot-and-cold-arm, chevron, and bimorph types as well as a few other unconventional actuation approaches. Within each type, trends are outlined from the basic concept and design modifications to applications which have been investigated in order to enhance the performance or to overcome the limitations of the previous designs. It provides a grasp of the actuation methodology, design, and fabrication, and the related performance and applications in cell manipulation, micro assembly, and mechanical testing of nanomaterials, Radio Frequency (RF) switches, and optical Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS).
66 citations
TL;DR: This paper is concentrated on reviewing the state-of-the-art research on complaint micro-/nano-positioning stage design in recent years and involves the major processes and components for designing a compliant positioning stage, e.g., actuator selection, stroke amplifier design, connecting scheme of the multi-DOF stage and structure optimization.
Abstract: Micromanipulation is a hot topic due to its enabling role in various research fields. In order to perform a high precision operation at a small scale, compliant mechanisms have been proposed and applied for decades. In microscale manipulation, micro-/nano-positioning is the most fundamental operation because a precision positioning is the premise of subsequent operations. This paper is concentrated on reviewing the state-of-the-art research on complaint micro-/nano-positioning stage design in recent years. It involves the major processes and components for designing a compliant positioning stage, e.g., actuator selection, stroke amplifier design, connecting scheme of the multi-DOF stage and structure optimization. The review provides a reference to design a compliant micro-/nano-positioning stage for pertinent applications.
59 citations
TL;DR: A CSFH has been analyzed with both theoretical and finite element methods, in order to obtain the relation between voltage and generated torque, and showed that CSFH performs better than linear flexure hinges in terms of larger rotations and less stress for given applied voltage.
Abstract: Progress in MEMS technology continuously stimulates new developments in the mechanical structure of micro systems, such as, for example, the concept of so-called CSFH (conjugate surfaces flexural hinge), which makes it possible, simultaneously, to minimize the internal stresses and to increase motion range and robustness. Such a hinge may be actuated by means of a rotary comb-drive, provided that a proper set of simulations and tests are capable to assess its feasibility. In this paper, a CSFH has been analyzed with both theoretical and finite element (FEM) methods, in order to obtain the relation between voltage and generated torque. The FEM model considers also the fringe effect on the comb drive finger. Electromechanical couple–field analysis is performed by means of both direct and load transfer methods. Experimental tests have been also performed on a CSFH embedded in a MEMS prototype, which has been fabricated starting from a SOI wafer and using D–RIE (deep reactive ion etching). Results showed that CSFH performs better than linear flexure hinges in terms of larger rotations and less stress for given applied voltage.
32 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors reviewed the recent advances on performance indices, classification, structural composition, optimization and modeling method, and control of PEACM and provided a guideline on further development of the micro gripper.
Abstract: The piezoelectric-actuated compliant microgripper (PEACM) plays an essential role in the application fields such as biomedical engineering, microelectronics, and optical engineering. As compared with other categories of grippers, PEACM exhibits the advantages of high accuracy of displacement, large power to weight ratio, low energy consumption, and fast response speed. This paper reviews the recent advances on performance indices, classification, structural composition, optimization and modeling method, and control of PEACM. First, the gripper's performance indices and classifications are elaborated, which is beneficial to determine the design goal. Then, the compliant mechanisms adopted in the microgripper design are discussed, including the flexible hinge, displacement amplifier, and guiding mechanism. In addition, the optimization and modeling methods of the microgripper are presented. Popular types of position/force sensors and different displacement/force control strategies employed in the microgripper are surveyed. Moreover, the prospect on future development trend of the PEACM is discussed. The paper provides the reader with an overview of the recent advances on PEACM design and also a guideline on further development of the microgripper.
32 citations
References
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27 Sep 2004
TL;DR: In this paper, a polymer MEMS-based micro gripper that can operate in physiological ionic solutions is presented, which can be used for the manipulation of single cells and other biological species in solution with minimal undesired interactions.
Abstract: We present the development of a polymer MEMS-based microgripper that can operate in physiological ionic solutions. The electrothermally activated polymer gripper consists of two 'hot and cold arm' actuators placed antisymmetrically next to each other. The polymer microgripper is fabricated in a standard two-mask surface micromachining process. The high thermal expansion coefficient of the polymer (SU-8) allows the activation of the microgripper with small temperature elevations (20-40/spl deg/C) at low voltages (1-2 Volts). The developed polymer microgripper can be used for the manipulation of single cells and other biological species in solution with minimal undesired interactions.
49 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors discuss some of the fundamental limitations in scaling mechanical sensors down to the nanoscale and some emerging technologies for nan-scale sensing, and discuss the potential of these technologies.
Abstract: Traditional MEMS sensing systems do not scale down well to the nanoscale due to resolution and fabrication limitations. Therefore, new sensing systems need to be developed in order to meet the range and resolution requirements of nanoscale mechanical systems. Several nanoscale mechanical sensing systems have emerged that take advantage of nanoscale phenomena to improve the quality of nanoscale sensors. In this paper, we will discuss some of the fundamental limitations in scaling mechanical sensors down to the nanoscale and some of the emerging technologies for nanoscale sensing.
48 citations
TL;DR: In this article, multi-finger microcages with metal/diamond like carbon (DLC) bilayer and polymer/metal/DLC trilayer structures were analyzed, simulated and fabricated.
Abstract: Multi-finger microcages with metal/diamond like carbon (DLC) bilayer and polymer/metal/DLC trilayer structures were analyzed, simulated and fabricated. Modelling by finite element analysis showed that a soft polymer can be used together with DLC to form a normally closed microcage which can be opened by 90° angle at a temperature of ∼400 K, which is much lower than that of a metal/DLC bilayer structure previously demonstrated. The opening temperature for a microcage is independent of the finger dimensions, but is simply determined by the thermal expansion coefficient difference of two materials used. Microcages with SU8/DLC bilayer and SU8/Al/DLC trilayer structures have been fabricated and fully closed microcages with diameters of ∼40 μm have been obtained. Initial electrical tests have showed these devices open by more than 90° at a temperature lower than 150 °C, roughly in agreement with the theoretical analysis.
48 citations
01 Jan 2010
TL;DR: A summary of the state-of-the-art in the design, fabrication, and application of microactuators for nanoscale manufacturing and assembly can be found in this paper.
Abstract: The development of manufacturing tools and processes capable of precisely positioning and manipulating nanoscale components and materials is still in its embryonic stage. Microactuators are emerging as important tools capable of precisely positioning and manipulating nanoscale components and materials. This paper provides a summary of the state-of the-art in the design, fabrication, and application of microactuators for nanoscale manufacturing and assembly. Key characteristics and design models of electrothermal and electrostatic microactuators are described and compared. Specific design requirements for their functionality at the nanoscale are discussed. The results demonstrate the limitations of existing microactuator designs and key challenges associated with their design, modeling, and performance characterization for nanoscale positioning, assembly, and manipulation.
46 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a new systematic design and optimization procedure used for the microgrippers driven by a chevron electrothermal actuator is presented, which includes three steps: first, a suitable rigid-body gripper mechanism is selected using the type synthesis of the kinematic chain method; then, the rigid body mechanism is transferred into a compliant micro gripper; finally, by the stiffness matrix model and the genetic algorithm, a geometry parametric optimization with the high output stiffness objective is carried out.
Abstract: This paper presents a new systematic design and optimization procedure used for the microgrippers driven by a chevron electrothermal actuator. The procedure includes three steps: first, a suitable rigid-body gripper mechanism is selected using the type synthesis of the kinematic chain method; then, the rigid-body mechanism is transferred into a compliant microgripper; finally, by the stiffness matrix model and the genetic algorithm, a geometry parametric optimization with the high output stiffness objective is carried out. Using this procedure, a novel SU-8 electrothermal microgripper is obtained. According to the FEM simulation, the microgripper meets the design requirements and satisfies the constraints. To eliminate the out-of-plane actuation, a novel processing technology is implemented to fabricate the microgripper with a sandwich structure actuator. The experimental results demonstrate that a jaw gap change of 107.5 µm requires only 73.6 mV, 25.61 mW and only 44.92 °C temperature increase at the actuator and the out-of-plane actuation is almost eliminated. A micromanipulation of a micro blood vessel specimen and a micro-assembly for micro-tensile testing studies of fine hair are demonstrated. Hence, the design procedure is valid to generate novel compliant micro mechanisms. The fabrication process can be used in the fabrication of other SU-8 MEMS devices actuated by the electrothermal actuator.
46 citations