Performance Enhancement of Electrostatically Actuated Microgripper with Modified Fingers for Microassembly

Abstract

The application of microgrippers for handling and assembling micro parts in the field of robotics attracts more attention by the growth in micro electro mechanical systems. In this paper an electrostatic microgripper using comb drive is designed and analyzed using IntelliSuite. The use of modified fingers in the combdrive amplifies the output displacement of microgripper for given supply voltage. It also provides a linear force displacement behavior over a range of displacement. To show this amplification, finite element simulations are performed on the proposed design of microgripper models. It was found that displacement of about 7 µm has been obtained at a voltage of 14 volts with 28 fingers only with one of the proposed designs of microgripper against 25 volts for rectangular finger microgripper with 28 fingers. The simulation results have been verified by analytical results. The results of analytical and simulation are found to be in good agreement.