Abstract
This paper describes a novel electrostatically actuated microgripper with freeform geometries designed by a genetic algorithm. This new semiautomated design methodology is capable of designing near-optimal MEMS devices that are robust to fabrication tolerances. The use of freeform geometries designed by a genetic algorithm significantly improves the performance of the microgripper. An experiment shows that the designed microgripper has a large displacement (91.5 μm) with a low actuation voltage (47.5 V), which agrees well with the theory. The microgripper has a large actuation displacement and can handle micro-objects with a size from 10 to 100 μm. A grasping experiment on human hair with a diameter of 77 μm was performed to prove the functionality of the gripper. The result confirmed the superior performance of the new design methodology enabling freeform geometries. This design method can also be extended to the design of many other MEMS devices.
Highlights
Microelectromechanical system (MEMS) microgrippers are microscale grippers fabricated through a micromachined process, and typically comprise actuators, mechanical parts for the handling and manipulation of micro-objects (1–100 μm) and force sensors
We introduce a novel electrostatically actuated microgripper with freeform geometries designed by a genetic algorithm (GA) approach
The GAbased semiautomated design methodology with freeform geometries is introduced in detail
Summary
For the same actuation voltage, microgrippers with freeform geometries (CB7-D1 and CB7-D2) improved XT by 150–200% compared with orthogonal geometries (SB7) for the same die area. For objects with a diameter between 100 and 30 μm, design CB7-D1 is superior to CB7-D2, as CB7-D1 can satisfy the gripping range with a lower actuation voltage. Compared with Crescenzi et al.’s design, the CB7-D1 actuation ability is 6 times lower, while the gripping range is 3.6 times larger, whereas the design CB7-D2 actuation ability is 5 times lower, while the gripping range is 4.6 times larger. Hao et al.’s design[8] has the second-highest actuation ability and largest gripping range. Compared with Chang et al.’s design[10], the CB7-D1 actuation ability is 4.8 times larger, while the gripping range is 1.4 times lower, whereas the design CB7-D2 actuation ability is 4.3 times larger, while the gripping range is 1.1 times lower
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