A remotely driven and controlled micro-gripper fabricated from light-induced deformation smart material

Micro-gripper is an important tool to manipulate and assemble micro-scale objects. Generally, as micro-gripper is too small to be directly driven by general motors, it always needs special driving devices and suitable structure design. In this paper, two-finger micro-grippers are designed and fabricated, which utilize light-induced deformation smart material to make one of the two fingers. As the smart material is directly driven and controlled by remote lights instead of lines and motors, this light-driven mode simplifies the design of the two-finger micro-gripper and avoids special drivers and complex mechanical structure. In addition, a micro-manipulation experiment system is set up which is based on the light-driven micro-gripper. Experimental results show that this remotely light-driven micro-gripper has ability to manipulate and assemble micro-scale objects both in air and water. Furthermore, two micro-grippers can also work together for cooperation which can further enhance the assembly ability. On the other hand, this kind of remotely controllable micro-gripper that does not require on-board energy storage, can be used in mobile micro-robot as a manipulation hand.

[1]  G. Kumar,et al.  Photochemistry of azobenzene-containing polymers , 1989 .

[2]  Ronald Lumia,et al.  Single active finger IPMC microgripper , 2015 .

[3]  Byung Kyu Kim,et al.  Institute of Physics Publishing Smart Materials and Structures a Superelastic Alloy Microgripper with Embedded Electromagnetic Actuators and Piezoelectric Force Sensors: a Numerical and Experimental Study , 2022 .

[4]  J. Cornelissen,et al.  Conversion of light into macroscopic helical motion. , 2014, Nature chemistry.

[5]  Laxman Saggere,et al.  Design and development of a novel micro-clasp gripper for micromanipulation of complex-shaped objects , 2012 .

[6]  T. Ikeda,et al.  Photomechanics: Directed bending of a polymer film by light , 2003, Nature.

[7]  Tomiki Ikeda,et al.  Optical Switching and Image Storage by Means of Azobenzene Liquid-Crystal Films , 1995, Science.

[8]  M. Sitti,et al.  Three‐Dimensional Programmable Assembly by Untethered Magnetic Robotic Micro‐Grippers , 2014 .

[9]  D. Broer,et al.  Printed artificial cilia from liquid-crystal network actuators modularly driven by light. , 2009, Nature materials.

[10]  Qingsong Xu,et al.  A Dual-Axis Electrostatically Driven MEMS Microgripper , 2014 .

[11]  Luzhuo Chen,et al.  High-performance, low-voltage, and easy-operable bending actuator based on aligned carbon nanotube/polymer composites. , 2011, ACS nano.

[12]  Ashish Dutta,et al.  SCARA based peg-in-hole assembly using compliant IPMC micro gripper , 2013, Robotics Auton. Syst..

[13]  Zhaopeng Chen,et al.  A multipurpose electrothermal microgripper for biological micro-manipulation , 2013 .

[14]  Joe Cecil,et al.  Assembly and manipulation of micro devices-A state of the art survey , 2007 .

[15]  G. Haertling.  PLZT electrooptic materials and applications: a review , 1987 .

[16]  C. E. Land,et al.  Hot‐Pressed (Pb,La)(Zr,Ti)O3 Ferroelectric Ceramics for Electrooptic Applications , 1971 .

[17]  Yanlei Yu,et al.  Light-controlled quick switch of adhesion on a micro-arrayed liquid crystal polymer superhydrophobic film , 2012 .

[18]  T. Ikeda,et al.  Photomobile polymer materials: towards light-driven plastic motors. , 2008, Angewandte Chemie.

[19]  M. Shelley,et al.  Fast liquid-crystal elastomer swims into the dark , 2004, Nature materials.

[20]  Yu-Fan Chen,et al.  An Electrothermal Actuator With Two Degrees of Freedom Serving as the Arm of a MEMS Gripper , 2014, IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics.

[21]  Nur Azah Hamzaid,et al.  Development of a Micro-Gripper Using Piezoelectric Bimorphs , 2013, Sensors.

[22]  Fumihito Arai,et al.  Characteristics of optical actuator-servomechanisms using bimorph optical piezo-electric actuator , 1993, [1993] Proceedings IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation.

[23]  Robert Lewis Reuben,et al.  Micro-tweezers: design, fabrication, simulation and testing of a pneumatically actuated micro-gripper for micromanipulation and microtactile sensing , 2015 .

[24]  Alongkorn Pimpin,et al.  Fabrication and Characterization of Nitinol-Copper Shape Memory Alloy Bimorph Actuators , 2015, Journal of Materials Engineering and Performance.

[25]  Martin Leary,et al.  A review of shape memory alloy research, applications and opportunities , 2014 .

[26]  Saber Azizi,et al.  On the dynamics of a micro-gripper subjected to electrostatic and piezoelectric excitations , 2015 .

[27]  Bhaskar Ghosh,et al.  Design and manufacturing of mobile micro manipulation system with a compliant piezoelectric actuator based micro gripper , 2015 .

[28]  Aurelio Somà,et al.  Design of an electro-thermally actuated cell microgripper , 2014 .

[29]  Ashish Dutta,et al.  Two IPMC Fingers Based Micro Gripper for Handling , 2011 .

[30]  R. K. Jain,et al.  Design and control of an IPMC artificial muscle finger for micro gripper using EMG signal , 2013 .

[31]  Yanlei Yu,et al.  Photodeformable polymer material: towards light-driven micropump applications , 2010 .

[32]  Yanlei Yu,et al.  Fully plastic microrobots which manipulate objects using only visible light , 2010 .

[33]  Metin Sitti,et al.  Three-dimensional heterogeneous assembly of coded microgels using an untethered mobile microgripper. , 2015, Lab on a chip.

[34]  Y. Haddab,et al.  Modeling and Optimal Force Control of a Nonlinear Electrostatic Microgripper , 2013, IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics.

[35]  Marc Sallé,et al.  Molecular Clips and Tweezers Hosting Neutral Guests , 2011 .

[36]  Chan-Woo Moon,et al.  Fabrication and property analysis of a MEMS micro-gripper for robotic micro-manipulation , 2012 .