Soft Polymer-Actuated Compliant Microgripper with Adaptive Vibration-Controlled Grasp and Release

Area of Science:

• Robotics
• Materials Science
• Biomedical Engineering

Background:

• Soft actuators enable damage-free grasping for micromanipulation and microsurgery.
• Existing soft actuation mechanisms face challenges in achieving large gripping range, force, and speed.
• Need for compliant microgrippers with enhanced performance for diverse applications.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce a novel compliant microgripper driven by a spiral flexure cone dielectric elastomer actuator (SFCDEA).
• To demonstrate the microgripper's capability for large gripping range, high force, and high speed.
• To showcase the microgripper's versatility in adaptive grasping and releasing of various objects.

Main Methods:

• Development of a submillimeter-scale spiral flexure cone dielectric elastomer actuator (SFCDEA).
• Fabrication of a compliant microgripper using smart composite microstructure technology and SFCDEA.
• Testing the microgripper's grasping capabilities on various millimeter-scale objects without complex feedback control.

Main Results:

• The SFCDEA achieved controllable linear displacement over a high bandwidth.
• The microgripper demonstrated a lifting capacity of 100.9 g (670 times its mass).
• The microgripper successfully grasped diverse objects without complex feedback control due to its compliance.

Conclusions:

• The developed SFCDEA-based microgripper offers a significant advancement in soft actuation for micromanipulation.
• Its compliance and high performance enable versatile and adaptive grasping of various objects.
• The microgripper shows great promise for applications in robotic manipulation and microsurgery.