Design and testing of a microgripper with SMA actuator for manipulation of micro components

摘要

The extremely high work-to-volume ratios of the SMA actuators make them suitable to be used as a powerful actuator in micro-scale manipulation. In this study, an easily manufacturable micro-gripper with shape memory alloy (SMA) wire actuator was designed and manufactured. The concept of the designed micro-gripper was based on flexible hinge structures to increase the deflection efficiency and strength. The size of microgripper was a significant criterion in our design. Also, innovative layout in locating of SMA wire caused the microgripper to gripe and manipulate a boarder range of objects. The finite element method was used to analyze and calculate the stress distribution and jaw's deflection in the gripper. In order to verify the modeling results, an experimental analysis by building a set-up for micro-gripper and running tests were implemented and it showed a good agreement with the modeling results. The approximate size of the micro-gripper is about 12 x 10 mm and its maximum achievable deflection is 200 mu m which is perceptibly higher than SMA actuated micro-grippers with the same size.