SGER: Using Artificial Muscles for a Microgripper

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This Small Grant for Exploratory Researh (SGER) project will investigate the feasibility of a new approach to micromanipulation using artificial muscles fabricated by a new material called Ionic Polymeric (polyelectrolyte) Platinum Composites (IPPC). The approach in this exploratory study is to build a simple, parallel jaw gripper of very small dimensions (e.g. 50 microns) using the IPPC material, and attach this microgripper to a simple x-y table used to manipulate LIGA microgears of various geometries. The research will be performed in collaboration with Sandia National Laboratories. The microgripper system has the potential of becoming a significant enabling technology for economic assembly of MEMS and micromachines. The project effort is expected to accelerate this capability for this challenging assembly process.