Microassembly of 3-D Microstructures Using a Compliant, Passive Microgripper

Abstract

Abstract-This paper describes a novel microassembly system that can be used to construct out-of-plane three-dimensional (3-D) microstructures. The system makes use of a surface-micromachined microgripper that is solder bonded to a robotic manipulator. The microgripper is able to grasp a micropart, remove it from the chip, reorient it about two independent axes, translate it along the , and axes to a secondary location, and join it to another micropart. In this way, out-of-plane 3-D microstructures can be assembled from a set of initially planar and parallel surface micromachined microparts. The microgripper is 380 410 m in size. It utilizes three geometric features for operation: 1) compliant beams to allow for deflection at the grasping tips; 2) self-tightening geometry during grasping; and 3) 3-D interlocking geometry to secure a micropart after the grasp. Each micropart has three geometric features built into its body. The first is the interlock interface feature that allows it to be grasped by the microgripper. The second is a tether feature that secures the micropart to the substrate, and breaks away after the microgripper has grasped the micropart. The third is the snap-lock feature, which is used to join the micropart to other microparts.[1061]Index Terms-Compliant, joint, microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), microgripper, microassembly, microstructure, micropart, snap-lock microjoint, three-dimensional (3-D).

Automatic dextrous microhandling based on a 6-DOF microgripper

“…Applications of microhandling lie in the areas such as microassembly, microsurgery, and various biotechnology operations. For example, microhandling has been applied in assembly of microrobotic structures [16][17][18]25] and MEMS components [9,22,26]; minimally invasive examination and surgery [27]; minimally invasive microhandling of microbe [20]; intra-cytoplasmic sperm injection [28]; ophthalmic surgery [29]; manipulation of DNA [30,31]; manipulation of carbon nanotube [32]; manipulation of micro particles [10].…”

“…Microhandling can be carried out by contact methods, mostly mechanical [2,4,7,9,13,16,18,[22][23][24][25][26], or various non-contact methods such as optical pressure [1,3,12,20], acoustic and ultrasonic wave [10,[33][34][35], magnetic field [18,36], electrical field [21], or a combination of several methods. The environment of microhandling can be air, liquid or vacuum (often in an SEM).…”

“…The jaws or fingers are usually made of metals (e.g. stainless steel [14,22,25], nickel [51]) or silicon materials [50,26]. Some nanogrippers are also developed by applying nanotubes [52] or AFM cantilevers as the end-effector [32].…”

“…piezoelectric stacks [53], piezoelectric benders [14,25,51], shape memory alloy (SMA) [54,55], thermal and electrostatic [43,56], or various miniaturized linear motors. Passive microgrippers have also suitable applications, such as in [26]. To control the gripping force, force sensing is needed in microgrippers.…”

Submerged Robotic Micromanipulation and Dielectrophoretic Micro-object Release

“…The first approach is useful for very large production batch but the reliability stays low [7]. The second approach is more flexible and is relevant for smaller production batch [8], [9]. Secondly, micromanipulation of artificial parts in liquid has many applications in biotechnologies.…”