Design, Optimization, and Experiments of Compliant Microgripper

Abstract

Recent progress of MEMS technology enables the mass production of microdevices with low cost. However, methods for designing microgrippers and microdevice assembly processes have not been studied extensively. This paper presents the design and optimization of compliant microgripper, and snap-fit based microassembly experiments. A key issue of microassembly is to design a microgripper that is capable of handling and manipulating microparts with positional uncertainty and the lack of sensory information. Topology optimization is used to design compliant microgrippers that can produce a large opening at the tip or a gripper, and Finite Element Analysis (FEA) is performed to evaluate the characteristics of grippers. Compliant microgripper driven by the embedded thermal actuator and snap-connectors were fabricated using deep reactive ion etching (DRIE) process with Silicon On Insulator (SOI) wafer. With a fabricated microgripper and several snap-fits, the assembly of a three dimensional microstructure was successfully demonstrated.