Research On Microgripper Technology

Micro robotics is one of the most important technological trends in the recent years, which can be classified into micro-robot and micromanipulator by their size and designed purpose. As one kind of micromanipulators, microassembly robot is the combination of robotic assembly and micromanipulation. And it is demanding in various fields, such as micro-parts assembly, MEMS (Micro Electro Mechanical Systems) and precise optical projects. This dissertation mainly aims to the application of microgripper technology in microassembly system and several topics, such as the structure, driver and controller of the microgripper, have been discussed in detail. We have analyzed and modeled the microgripper, and then give the gripping- force theoretically.According to the background of our microassembly robot system which is supported by the National High Technology Research and Development Program of China, we have made a study and present a new structure microgripper by piezoelectric bimorph. The microgripper is based on the dual cantilevers structure and is driven by two piezoelectric bimorphs, and can complete grip and release actions which are demanded by microassembly tasks.The main innovative point is that the microgripper is integrated by the micro-force detection. It can judge weather the micro object has been clamped and how much force the object is suffered by the strain signal at the root of microgripper. So we can make sure the micro objects not be destroyed by larger force.In addition, we modeled the piezoelectric bimorph and make the micro-force analyses, and got displacement-voltage relationship and force-strain relationship theoretically. Then we can calculate the micro gripping-force by the strain signal. The experiments testify the gripper can work reliably and safely, it can closely satisfy the task of microassembly. The summary of the full text and the view of microassembly robot and microgripper researches have been shown in the end of dissertation.