Abstract. This paper presents the design and development of a flexure-based microgripper, accompanied with a real-time, vision-based force sensing system to handle objects of various sizes ranging from 100 µm to 1 mm. A simulation-based design methodology is adopted to develop an initial microgripper design, which is then optimized using theoretical modeling. The final prototype developed generated a large stroke length of over 500 µm with high-deflection magnification (ratio of the end deflection (output) to the input deflection) of 3.52. A spring system has been incorporated into the microgripper for easy measurement and control of the gripping forces. The web-camera-based visual system enables real-time force measurement with a resolution of 2.37 mN and can be operated in both manual and automatic modes to control the applied forces. The system has successfully demonstrated gripping of a variety of micro-objects including a 100 µm human hair and a 1 mm steel rod with forces as small as 43 mN and 159 mN, respectively.

Print publication: Issue 1 (January 2010)
Received 17 July 2009, in final form 14 September 2009
Published 18 November 2009