Micro Gripper

A system using microgripper for gluing and adhesive bonding in automatic microassembly was designed, implemented, and tested. The development of system is guided by axiomatic design principle. With a compliant PU microgripper, regional-edge-statistics (RES) algorithm, and PD controller, a visual-servoing system was implemented for gripping micro object, gluing adhesive, and operating adhesive bonding. The RES algorithm estimated and tracked a gripper's centroid to implement a visual-servoing control in the microassembly operation. The main specifications of the system are: gripping range of 60~80μm, working space of 7mm×5.74mm×15mm, system bandwidth of 15Hz. In the performance test, a copper rod with diameter 60μm was automatically gripped and transported for transferring glue and bonding. The 60μm copper rod was dipped into a glue container and moved, pressed and bonding to a copper rod of 380μm. The amount of binding glue was estimated about 5.7nl.

This scientific paper presents in national premiere and in original multi-integrative and multi-potential concept of creation, experimentation, realization and integration on the route of the technological cross-border mixture value chain of intelligent mixmechatronic-integronic-adaptronic products and systems / micro-nano-systems for the industry, economy and society, corresponding to the new intelligent labour jobs.

The scientific paper presenting theoretical and practical research results from Mechatronics and Cyber-Mix Mechatronics Engineering applied in industrial, economical and societal environments as well as the future trends of Claytronics. Thus, the motivation of the scientific work is mainly the motivation of mechatronic and cyber-mechatronic engineering expressed by the concepts, architectures, new achievements of mechatronic and cyber-mechatronic intelligent systems for the automotive industry (already implemented at SC Automobile Renault-Dacia SA Pitesti, SC Auto Components SA Topoloveni, etc.), for measuring and controlling auto parts, moulded parts (carter, cylinder, etc.) and type of machined parts (taps, etc.). In addition, on the basis of a study of advanced world research, the mechatronics and cyber-micromechatronics evolution towards a new science and high-tech engineering integrated in Claytronics is presented, being able to generationally revolutionize design and future engineering for the future.

The compliant grippers are useful for high accuracy grasping of small objects with adaptive control of contact points along the active surfaces of the fingers. The spatial trajectories of the elements become a must, due to the development of MEMS. The paper presents the solution for the compliant gripper designed by the authors, so the planar and spatial movements are discussed. At the beginning of the process, the gripper could work as passive one just for the moment when it has to reach out the object surface. The forces provided by the elements have to avoid the damage. As part of the system, the camera is taken picture of the object, in order to facilitate the positioning of the system. When the contact is established, the mechanism is acting as an active gripper by using an electrical stepper motor, which has controlled movement.

The scientific paper presenting original contributions in developing specialized domain "Cyber-mix mechatronics" through new and advanced cyber-mix mechatronics systems with applications in many industrial, economical and societal environments. The scientific work generally included physical world with the virtual world systems or mechatronic engineering mix with the Internet, assembling into mix mechatronics cyber systems for measurement and control processes and processing, energy networks, microsatellites network, and so on.

The scientific paper presenting original contributions in developing specialized domain "Cyber-mix mechatronics" through new and advanced cyber-mix mechatronics systems with applications in many industrial, economical and societal environments. The scientific work generally included physical world with the virtual world systems or mechatronic engineering mix with the Internet, assembling into mix mechatronics cyber systems for measurement and control processes and processing, energy networks, microsatellites network, and so on.

Under the present regime of globalization and liberalization, quality enhancement and cost reduction are two major steps to enhance productivity in major Industries. We focused on the very practical, safe, economical and rewarding strategies i.e. the application of LOW COST AUTOMATION. In Industry which uses of automation, a sequence is followed in the manufacturing of number of products of the same kind and thus chance for Automation. In our research we have achieved low cost automation through a Programmable Logic Controller (SIEMENS SIMANTIC S7300PLC with STEP7 software). It is used to replace the necessary sequential relay circuits for the control on the devices. In automated system, PLC is usually the central part of the control system. With execution of a program stored in program memory, PLC continuously monitors status of the system through signals from input devices (sensors). Based on the logic implemented in the program PLC determines which action is to be executed with output instruments Actuators). Depending on our requirement Pneumatic actuators, Solenoid valves and sensors are used to run the sequence. Flow control valves are used to regulate the flow of air pressure where ever necessary.

This paper deals with strategies and scientific methods of design, development and implementation of Adaptronics as part of key technology for the future, which will facilitate systems and high-tech micro-systems performance and know-how, and the relevance of most businesses.Design and application of Adaptronics were possible only because of Mechatronics and Integronics innovative developments, becoming active technology vector, structural and practical in most industries and hyper-intelligent products and systems, in technological purposes for change, improvement and evolutionary development of intelligent cybernetic manufacturing.

Micro-material handling and micro-assembly becomes increasingly important in largevolume manufacturing of products like sensors in automotive applications. Smaller dimensions of the micro-objects lead to problems with regard to the reliability of the manufacturing process because adhesive forces become predominant over gravity for objects whose dimensions are in the micro-range. In contrast to the common approach of minimizing those adhesive forces, this paper focuses on the use of the three main adhesive forces, van-der-Waals, electrostatic and surface tension forces, as gripping principles. These forces are compared to conventional vacuum grippers with regard to gripping forces and complexity of application. Modelling of the forces is executed for separation distances in the range of 1x10 -12 m - 1x10 -3 m. Even though vacuum forces dominate in magnitude over others within the whole range, there are several disadvantages of using them. On the other hand adhesive forces are advanta...

Electrowetting-induced microwater droplet transports in parallel-plate and open-plate electrowetting-on-dielectrode (EWOD) have been studied numerically. The governing equations for three-dimensional transient microfluidic flow are solved by a finite volume scheme with a two-step projection method on a fixed computational domain. The free surface of the droplet is tracked by the coupled level set and volume-of-fluid (CLSVOF) method with the surface tension force determined by the continuum surface force (CSF) model. The results of the numerical model have been validated with published experimental data and the physics of droplet transport have been investigated. A parametric study has been performed in which the effects of voltage amplitude, channel gap, and electrode size have been examined.

The robot is a complex automated system that has the role of manipulating the parts and tools, replacing the action of human. An industrial robot is a system that does not operate in isolation, it communicates with other robots and machine tools, conveyor belts, thus reaching the idea of a flexible manufacturing cell. One of the most important robot classes is manipulating robots for manufacturing operations, which include industrial robots. There are, undoubtedly, many definitions of the industrial robot, which is a universal machine, used to perform some intellectual activity, human jobs or to have the capacity to replace man in different actions. The goal of this paper is to make a study on the kinematics of the mechanisms involved in industrial robot composition, some data regarding the dynamics of industrial robotic systems and the structure of a robotic position system used in industrial operations in order to optimize and correct the performances. Keywords—Gripper, Industrial...

This paper initiates the launch and the integration of a new scientific concept: "Mechatronics galaxy", a support of industrial research for European sustainable and strategic development. This new concept is based on achievement and development of generative, evolutionary and integrative-synergistic concepts regarding micro nano mechanics engineering, micro nano electronics engineering and micro nano IT engineering for:  spatial, temporal and functional integration;  intelligent adaptive behavior based on perception, self-learning, self-diagnostics and systemic reconfiguration;  adequate flexibility of software and hardware structures;  predictive development of micro nano mechatronics structures (μ nano mechatronics) and of the intelligent computerized applicability with high value added;  simultaneous mix-integrative design of micro nano products (un-products), micro nano systems (μ nano systems) and micro-nanotechnologies (μ nano technologies);  a strategy of technological, economic and ecological impact in economy. industry and society. Thus, the new concept "Mechatronics galaxy» creates and develops micro-nanomechatronics engineering (μnmechatronics engineering), based on fundamental and applied techniques: micro-nanomechatronics (μn-M). micronanorobotics (μn-R), micro-nanointegronics (μn-I), micro-nanosensoristics (μn-S), micro-nanoactuators (μn-A), micro-nanoprocessing (μn-P) and intelligent micro-nanomanufacturing (μn-Fi).

The scientific paper treats new concepts and structures of intelligent integrated micro-nano-technologies elaborated and developed in the frame of research activities and some examples of some implemented technologies (in metrological processes) micro-nano metrological, in micro-nano manufacturing and in laborator processes, in intergronics systems and processes, in intelligent manufacturing of automotive and in micro-nano structures characterization on AFM).The scientific paper presents also the result obtained in measurement process and characterization on AFM, who will be the basis of future research in this domain.

A new type of vacuum microgripper is considered. An automatic release device inserted in the gripper body allows to overcome adhesion forces that can prevent detachment of the object to be handled. A CFD analysis of a simplified model of the device is presented. The goal is to evaluate the lifting force on the release device as a function of geometric parameters, an important information for design of this class of microgrippers. A reference geometry has been firstly investigated using a highfidelity approach, i.e. a Large Eddy Simulation. The results have been used to validate a cheaper CFD approach based on the RANS solution. Then through steady RANS computations a dataset has been obtained varying geometric parameters of the device. Trends of the lifting force in terms of geometry modification are presented and discussed. All calculations have been performed with OpenFOAM®.

Micro-material handling and micro-assembly becomes increasingly important in largevolume manufacturing of products like sensors in automotive applications. Smaller dimensions of the micro-objects lead to problems with regard to the reliability of the manufacturing process because adhesive forces become predominant over gravity for objects whose dimensions are in the micro-range. In contrast to the common approach of minimizing those adhesive forces, this paper focuses on the use of the three main adhesive forces, van-der-Waals, electrostatic and surface tension forces, as gripping principles. These forces are compared to conventional vacuum grippers with regard to gripping forces and complexity of application. Modelling of the forces is executed for separation distances in the range of 1x10 -12 m - 1x10 -3 m. Even though vacuum forces dominate in magnitude over others within the whole range, there are several disadvantages of using them. On the other hand adhesive forces are advanta...

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.

A Micro Electro Mechanical System (MEMS) based piezoelectric actuator is a micromechanical device that produces parallel movement of gripping arms by piezoelectric material. Piezoelectric actuated microgripper used to grip and handle the miniature parts where study of displacement with voltage are important.In this paper two typical design of microgripper w.r.t. different actuator heights and widths are presented and analyzed. After analyzing, the previous two designs (which gives less jaw movement and higher voltage) we present a novel microgripper mechanism based on specific design requirements for micromanipulation. This microgripper is designed in COMSOL designing tool for the piezoelectric materials such as lead zicronate titanate (PZT), have been designed to achieve displacement at low voltage. The performance of the microgripper and the results show that the microgripper can grasp micro objects with the maximum jaw motion of 1.3008μm corresponding to the 2400-V applied voltage.

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.

Primary goal of the project is to design a coconut tree climbing device for farmers and residents. It is very difficult to climb on coconut tree manually due to the constant cylindrical structure and single stem. In other type of trees there will be branches for holding and to support the climber. A professional climber with proper training only be able to climb coconut tree. Due to the risk involved, nowadays a very few are coming forward to climb on coconut trees. Most of them hesitate. Agricultural workers employed for coconut tree climbing suffer musculoskeletal disorders than any other type of injury or illness. As the educational background of Indian youth is increasing, most of the people may hesitate to come in climbing profession. Considering this scenario, a device which helps the user to climb coconut tree easily will be useful for those having coconut cultivation as well as residents who is having less coconut trees. In this project, we aim to design a mechanism which is simple and easy to operate. For this we first made a rough sketch considering average diameter of a coconut tree as 30 cm and designed it in Solid Works. Later a static analysis was done using ANSYS to ensure its stability. After that we moved on to the fabrication part. The material used is GI steel. Three linear electrical actuators are used in this mechanismtwo for gripping and one for the vertical up and down motions. Each actuator can carry up to 400kg. The analysis done using ANSYS proved the design to be safe and the fabrication was completed successfully.

There have been recent developments in grippers that are based on capillary force and condensed water droplets. These are used for manipulating micro-sized objects. Recently, one-finger grippers have been produced that are able to reliably grip using the capillary force. To release objects, either the van der Waals, gravitational or inertial-forces method is used. This article presents methods for reliably gripping and releasing micro-objects using the capillary force. The moisture from the surrounding air is condensed into a thin layer of water on the contact surfaces of the objects. From the thin layer of water, a water meniscus between the micro-sized object, the gripper and the releasing surface is created. Consequently, the water meniscus between the object and the releasing surface produces a high enough capillary force to release the micro-sized object from the tip of the one-finger gripper. In this case, either polystyrene, glass beads with diameters between 5–60 µm, or irre...

The article describes experiences in designing intelligent machines and manufacturing systems. The multidisciplinary character of a mechatronic system creates special ditiiculties during design process. A model for carrying out design process of automatic production system is represented. Some guidelines in solving multidisciplinary problems in mechatronics are suggested.

The article describes experiences in designing intelligent machines and manufacturing systems. The multidisciplinary character of a mechatronic system creates special ditiiculties during design process. A model for carrying out design process of automatic production system is represented. Some guidelines in solving multidisciplinary problems in mechatronics are suggested.

The scientific paper treats new concepts and structures of intelligent integrated micro-nano-technologies elaborated and developed in the frame of research activities and some examples of some implemented technologies (in metrological processes) micro-nano metrological, in micro-nano manufacturing and in laborator processes, in intergronics systems and processes, in intelligent manufacturing of automotive and in micro-nano structures characterization on AFM).The scientific paper presents also the result obtained in measurement process and characterization on AFM, who will be the basis of future research in this domain.

This paper deals with strategies and scientific methods of design, development and implementation of Adaptronics as part of key technology for the future, which will facilitate systems and high-tech micro-systems performance and know-how, and the relevance of most businesses.Design and application of Adaptronics were possible only because of Mechatronics and Integronics innovative developments, becoming active technology vector, structural and practical in most industries and hyper-intelligent products and systems, in technological purposes for change, improvement and evolutionary development of intelligent cybernetic manufacturing.

In this study, we constructed a new type of gripper for micron-sized objects using piezoelectric multi-layer benders. This new gripper is composed of three chopsticks: two are designed to grip microobjects, and the third is used to help grasp and release the objects. It is well known that a micro-object is much easier to grasp than to release. Electrostatic, van der Waals forces and surface tension between the chopsticks and object are believed to be the main causes of adhesion. We introduced a third auxiliary chopstick to overcome these surface effects and to reduce the electrostatic forces between the object and chopsticks. All three chopsticks were made of tungsten wires with ends sharpened by etching, which minimises the van der Waals effect. We constructed a threechopstick gripper for micro-objects and tested its functionality by holding and releasing a 100-micron diameter object. The experiment showed that the third auxiliary chopstick functions effectively.

A new type of vacuum microgripper is considered. An automatic release device inserted in the gripper body allows to overcome adhesion forces that can prevent detachment of the object to be handled. A CFD analysis of a simplified model of the device is presented. The goal is to evaluate the lifting force on the release device as a function of geometric parameters, an important information for design of this class of microgrippers. A reference geometry has been firstly investigated using a highfidelity approach, i.e. a Large Eddy Simulation. The results have been used to validate a cheaper CFD approach based on the RANS solution. Then through steady RANS computations a dataset has been obtained varying geometric parameters of the device. Trends of the lifting force in terms of geometry modification are presented and discussed. All calculations have been performed with OpenFOAM®.

Although tissue and cell manipulation nowadays is a common task in biomedical analysis, there are still many different ways to accomplish it, most of which are still not sufficiently general, inexpensive, accurate, efficient or effective. Several problems arise both for in vivo or in vitro analysis, such as the maximum overall size of the device and the gripper jaws (like in minimally-invasive open biopsy) or very limited manipulating capability, degrees of freedom or dexterity (like in tissues or cell-handling operations). This paper presents a new approach to tissue and cell manipulation, which employs a conceptually new conjugate surfaces flexure hinge (CSFH) silicon MEMS-based technology micro-gripper that solves most of the above-mentioned problems. The article describes all of the phases of the development, including topology conception, structural design, simulation, construction, actuation testing and in vitro observation. The latter phase deals with the assessment of the function capability, which consists of taking a series of in vitro images by optical microscopy. They offer a direct morphological comparison between the gripper and a variety of tissues.

Although tissue and cell manipulation nowadays is a common task in biomedical analysis, there are still many different ways to accomplish it, most of which are still not sufficiently general, inexpensive, accurate, efficient or effective. Several problems arise both for in vivo or in vitro analysis, such as the maximum overall size of the device and the gripper jaws (like in minimally-invasive open biopsy) or very limited manipulating capability, degrees of freedom or dexterity (like in tissues or cell-handling operations). This paper presents a new approach to tissue and cell manipulation, which employs a conceptually new conjugate surfaces flexure hinge (CSFH) silicon MEMS-based technology micro-gripper that solves most of the above-mentioned problems. The article describes all of the phases of the development, including topology conception, structural design, simulation, construction, actuation testing and in vitro observation. The latter phase deals with the assessment of the function capability, which consists of taking a series of in vitro images by optical microscopy. They offer a direct morphological comparison between the gripper and a variety of tissues.

A polysilicon electrostatic comb-drive microgripper has been designed and fabricated using surface micromachining on a silicon wafer. It features flexible cantilever comb-drive arms with a bidirectional actuation scheme and over-range protectors. Three different electromechanical models are developed and, along with fabrication constraints, are employed to design the microgripper and to simulate its performance. Experiments demonstrate that a gripping range of 10 pm can be effected with an applied potential variation of less than 20 V. The motion dependence on drive voltage is measured and compared with predictions from models; it is observed to be smooth, stable, and controllable. Experimental behavior (voltage versus displacement) is characterized for voltages up to 50 v.

Although tissue and cell manipulation nowadays is a common task in biomedical analysis, there are still many different ways to accomplish it, most of which are still not sufficiently general, inexpensive, accurate, efficient or effective. Several problems arise both for in vivo or in vitro analysis, such as the maximum overall size of the device and the gripper jaws (like in minimally-invasive open biopsy) or very limited manipulating capability, degrees of freedom or dexterity (like in tissues or cell-handling operations). This paper presents a new approach to tissue and cell manipulation, which employs a conceptually new conjugate surfaces flexure hinge (CSFH) silicon MEMS-based technology micro-gripper that solves most of the above-mentioned problems. The article describes all of the phases of the development, including topology conception, structural design, simulation, construction, actuation testing and in vitro observation. The latter phase deals with the assessment of the function capability, which consists of taking a series of in vitro images by optical microscopy. They offer a direct morphological comparison between the gripper and a variety of tissues.

We finished the construction of the experimental apparatus and the design and testing of some of the visualization and data acquisition techniques. Experimental work focused on three areas: force measurements, loss of stability to nonaxisymmetric bridges, and vibration behavior. The experimental work is summarized in section 2. Selected results from our force measurement experiments are outlined in section 3. In

The scientific paper presenting original contributions in developing specialized domain "Cyber-mix mechatronics" through new and advanced cyber-mix mechatronics systems with applications in many industrial, economical and societal environments. The scientific work generally included physical world with the virtual world systems or mechatronic engineering mix with the Internet, assembling into mix mechatronics cyber systems for measurement and control processes and processing, energy networks, microsatellites network, and so on.

Although tissue and cell manipulation nowadays is a common task in biomedical analysis, there are still many different ways to accomplish it, most of which are still not sufficiently general, inexpensive, accurate, efficient or effective. Several problems arise both for in vivo or in vitro analysis, such as the maximum overall size of the device and the gripper jaws (like in minimally-invasive open biopsy) or very limited manipulating capability, degrees of freedom or dexterity (like in tissues or cell-handling operations). This paper presents a new approach to tissue and cell manipulation, which employs a conceptually new conjugate surfaces flexure hinge (CSFH) silicon MEMS-based technology micro-gripper that solves most of the above-mentioned problems. The article describes all of the phases of the development, including topology conception, structural design, simulation, construction, actuation testing and in vitro observation. The latter phase deals with the assessment of the function capability, which consists of taking a series of in vitro images by optical microscopy. They offer a direct morphological comparison between the gripper and a variety of tissues.

A polysilicon electrostatic comb-drive microgripper has been designed and fabricated using surface micromachining on a silicon wafer. It features flexible cantilever comb-drive arms with a bidirectional actuation scheme and over-range protectors. Three different electromechanical models are developed and, along with fabrication constraints, are employed to design the microgripper and to simulate its performance. Experiments demonstrate that a gripping range of 10 pm can be effected with an applied potential variation of less than 20 V. The motion dependence on drive voltage is measured and compared with predictions from models; it is observed to be smooth, stable, and controllable. Experimental behavior (voltage versus displacement) is characterized for voltages up to 50 v.

Preliminary experimental results concerning vibration and breakage were described in the third semi-annual report. This work is not yet complete. The bulk of our experimental work completed since then involves force measurements and is described below. 3. FORCE MEASUREMENTS ON LIQUID BRIDGES ibid. p.59. ibid. p.80.

Although tissue and cell manipulation nowadays is a common task in biomedical analysis, there are still many different ways to accomplish it, most of which are still not sufficiently general, inexpensive, accurate, efficient or effective. Several problems arise both for in vivo or in vitro analysis, such as the maximum overall size of the device and the gripper jaws (like in minimally-invasive open biopsy) or very limited manipulating capability, degrees of freedom or dexterity (like in tissues or cell-handling operations). This paper presents a new approach to tissue and cell manipulation, which employs a conceptually new conjugate surfaces flexure hinge (CSFH) silicon MEMS-based technology micro-gripper that solves most of the above-mentioned problems. The article describes all of the phases of the development, including topology conception, structural design, simulation, construction, actuation testing and in vitro observation. The latter phase deals with the assessment of the function capability, which consists of taking a series of in vitro images by optical microscopy. They offer a direct morphological comparison between the gripper and a variety of tissues.

Although tissue and cell manipulation nowadays is a common task in biomedical analysis, there are still many different ways to accomplish it, most of which are still not sufficiently general, inexpensive, accurate, efficient or effective. Several problems arise both for in vivo or in vitro analysis, such as the maximum overall size of the device and the gripper jaws (like in minimally-invasive open biopsy) or very limited manipulating capability, degrees of freedom or dexterity (like in tissues or cell-handling operations). This paper presents a new approach to tissue and cell manipulation, which employs a conceptually new conjugate surfaces flexure hinge (CSFH) silicon MEMS-based technology micro-gripper that solves most of the above-mentioned problems. The article describes all of the phases of the development, including topology conception, structural design, simulation, construction, actuation testing and in vitro observation. The latter phase deals with the assessment of the function capability, which consists of taking a series of in vitro images by optical microscopy. They offer a direct morphological comparison between the gripper and a variety of tissues.

The capacitance and rotor angle of a MEMS top-drive electrostatic rotary actuator do not have a linear relationship due to the non-ignorable fringe effect and low aspect ratio of the electrodes. Therefore, the position estimation is not as straightforward as that for a comb-drive linear actuator or a side-drive rotary actuator. The reason is that the capacitance is a nonlinear and periodic function of the rotor angle and is affected by the three-phase input voltages. Therefore, it cannot be approximated as a simple two-plate capacitor. Sensing the capacitance between a rotor and a stator is another challenge. The capacitance can be measured in the electrodes (stators), but the electrodes also have to perform actuation, so a method is needed to combine actuation and sensing. In this study, a nonlinear capacitance model was derived as a data-driven model that effectively represents the nonlinear capacitance with sufficient accuracy. To measure the capacitance accurately, the stator pa...

Although tissue and cell manipulation nowadays is a common task in biomedical analysis, there are still many different ways to accomplish it, most of which are still not sufficiently general, inexpensive, accurate, efficient or effective. Several problems arise both for in vivo or in vitro analysis, such as the maximum overall size of the device and the gripper jaws (like in minimally-invasive open biopsy) or very limited manipulating capability, degrees of freedom or dexterity (like in tissues or cell-handling operations). This paper presents a new approach to tissue and cell manipulation, which employs a conceptually new conjugate surfaces flexure hinge (CSFH) silicon MEMS-based technology micro-gripper that solves most of the above-mentioned problems. The article describes all of the phases of the development, including topology conception, structural design, simulation, construction, actuation testing and in vitro observation. The latter phase deals with the assessment of the function capability, which consists of taking a series of in vitro images by optical microscopy. They offer a direct morphological comparison between the gripper and a variety of tissues.

This paper presents an overview of the French research program PRONOMIA which deals with new methods for robotic micromanipulation and especially on submerged micromanipulation. During microscale object manipulation, contact (pull-off ) forces and non-contact (capillary, van der Waals, and electrostatic) forces determine the behavior of the micro-objects rather than the inertial forces. This article introduces a review of the major differences between dry and submerged micromanipulations and gives an experimental analysis of the physical phenomena at a microscopic scale in dry and liquid media. New submerged microhandling strategies is necessary to perform micromanipulation in a liquid. Two solutions are proposed in this article which use a freeze gripper and a dielectrophoretic gripper. Finally, microassembly and biological applications are presented.

– Thermal micro actuators are widely used for large displacement, high accuracy and repeatability. The applications of these devices are in the fields of micro assembly, micro surgery and manipulation of micro particles. In this paper, the development of electro thermal micro actuator based on PMMA (Poly Meta Methyl Acrylate) is described. The paper presents the development of a new micro actuator for a microgripper which has a combination of asymmetric arm and bi-layer structure to completely eliminate the undesirable out of plane movement. Three models of electro thermally actuated polymeric micro actuators using low voltage of 0.1 V are designed and analyzed using COMSOL Multiphysics software. The results are discussed and compared to show the efficiency of the hybrid design. The hybrid design gives 2.5 µm of in plane gripping displacement and 0.02 µm out of plane displacement at 0.1 V.

Grippers are used to pick, hold and place macro/micro-components, which are widely used in the field of assembly. In this work, for the first time an electrothermal gripper (collet) is designed and analysed using two thermal actuator structures with reverse currents in order to reduce the out-of-plane actuation for holding microcomponents in a narrow range of sizes between 100 µm to 1000 µm. The electrothermal gripper is designed and analyzed using Comsol Multiphysics Design and Analysis Software. The materials considered for the electro-thermal gripper are alluminium and steel. From the analysis, it is observed that in the case of alluminium electro-thermal gripper at 0.1 V, the in-plane displacement is found to be 22 µm and the out-of-plane displacement is found to be 0.1 µm. In the case of steel electrothermal gripper at 0.1V, the in-plane displacement is found to be 0.1 µm and out-ofplane displacement is found to be 0.00005 µm. It is observed that alluminium results in better displacement compared to steel.

Grippers are used to pick, hold and place macro/micro-components, which are widely used in the field of assembly. In this work, for the first time an electro-thermal gripper (collet) is designed and analysed using two thermal actuator structures with reverse currents in order to reduce the out-of-plane actuation for holding micro-components in a narrow range of sizes between 100 µm to 1000 µm. The electro-thermal gripper is designed and analyzed using Comsol Multiphysics Design and Analysis Software. The materials considered for the electro-thermal gripper are alluminium and steel. From the analysis, it is observed that in the case of alluminium electro-thermal gripper at 0.1 V, the in-plane displacement is found to be 22 µm and the out-of-plane displacement is found to be 0.1 µm. In the case of steel electro-thermal gripper at 0.1V, the in-plane displacement is found to be 0.1 µm and out-of-plane displacement is found to be 0.00005 µm. It is observed that alluminium results in better displacement compared to steel.

A thermally actuated micro gripper with two integrated micro actuators for open/close action was designed and fabricated from single crystal silicon. A total gripping range of 13 µm was observed for driving voltages below 5 V. The actuation efficiency is (-0.18±0.04) µm/V² for the close-action, and (0.57±0.01) µm/V² for the openaction actuator.

This paper reports an electrostatic microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) gripper with an integrated capacitive force sensor. The sensitivity is more than three orders of magnitude higher than other monolithically fabricated MEMS grippers with force feedback. This force sensing resolution provides feedback in the range of the forces that dominate the micromanipulation process. A MEMS ultrasonic device is described for aligning microobjects suspended in water using ultrasonic fields. The alignment of the particles is of a sufficient accuracy that the microgripper must only return to a fixed position in order to pick up particles less than 100 m in diameter. The concept is also demonstrated with HeLa cells, thus providing a useful tool in biological research and cell assays.

The development of new hybrid microsystems needs new technologies which are able to perform assembly of small micro-objects. Now, the current micromanipulation technologies are still unreliable for micro-objects which typical size is down to hundred micrometers. Consequently, the study and the development of innovative artificial microobject manipulation strategies in these dimensions is particularly relevant. As presented in the literature, micromanipulations are perturbed by the adhesion and surface forces which depend on surrounding mediums. We propose to perform micro-assembly tasks in liquid medium, because adhesion and surface forces applied on submerged micro-objects are less important than in air. The comparative analysis of micro-forces in air and in liquid is presented in this paper. Although the micro-forces reduce in liquid, they stay disturbed the micro-objects release. Thus, we propose to extend the dielectrophoresis micromanipulation principles which are currently done in the biological micromanipulation to submerged artificial objects micro-assembly. The negative dielectrophoresis principle is used to release a micro-object grasped with a micro-gripper. Physical principle and first experimentations is presented in this article. Further works will focus on the optimization of the principle, and on the micro-object release modelling and control.

This paper presents an overview of the French research program PRONOMIA which deals with new methods for robotic micromanipulation and especially on submerged micromanipulation. During microscale object manipulation, contact (pull-off ) forces and non-contact (capillary, van der Waals, and electrostatic) forces determine the behavior of the micro-objects rather than the inertial forces. This article introduces a review of the major differences between dry and submerged micromanipulations and gives an experimental analysis of the physical phenomena at a microscopic scale in dry and liquid media. New submerged microhandling strategies is necessary to perform micromanipulation in a liquid. Two solutions are proposed in this article which use a freeze gripper and a dielectrophoretic gripper. Finally, microassembly and biological applications are presented.

Aerodynamicists use wind tunnel to test models as well as for proposed aircraft components and engines. In order to keep these models fixed in place for testing, ground based equipment is essential. Electrohydraulic drives form the back bone of such type of mechanism which requires continuous motion for life time operations with controlled motion for start stop and bi-directional motion mechanisms. Focus of this paper is on systematic approach for optimal designing of a typical electrohydraulic drive that will provide roll motion to the testing model with emphasis on reliability of the system. This paper further highlights the design, selection, testing and qualification procedures of different elements of the drive and the electrohydraulic drive assembly as a whole.

Primary goal of the project is to design a coconut tree climbing device for farmers and residents. It is very difficult to climb on coconut tree manually due to the constant cylindrical structure and single stem. In other type of trees there will be branches for holding and to support the climber. A professional climber with proper training only be able to climb coconut tree. Due to the risk involved, nowadays a very few are coming forward to climb on coconut trees. Most of them hesitate. Agricultural workers employed for coconut tree climbing suffer musculoskeletal disorders than any other type of injury or illness. As the educational background of Indian youth is increasing, most of the people may hesitate to come in climbing profession. Considering this scenario, a device which helps the user to climb coconut tree easily will be useful for those having coconut cultivation as well as residents who is having less coconut trees. In this project, we aim to design a mechanism which is simple and easy to operate. For this we first made a rough sketch considering average diameter of a coconut tree as 30 cm and designed it in Solid Works. Later a static analysis was done using ANSYS to ensure its stability. After that we moved on to the fabrication part. The material used is GI steel. Three linear electrical actuators are used in this mechanism – two for gripping and one for the vertical up and down motions. Each actuator can carry up to 400kg. The analysis done using ANSYS proved the design to be safe and the fabrication was completed successfully.