II-EN: Microgripper Research Infrastructure

II-EN：微夹钳研究基础设施

• 批准号: 1404909
• 负责人: Ron Lumia
• 金额: $ 17.59万
• 依托单位: University of New Mexico
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2014
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2014-08-01 至 2016-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1404909&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: II; EN; Microgripper; Research; Infrastructure

This grant will support the development of a fabrication and testing facility for very small robotic micro-grippers that can grasp tiny quantities of bio-materials and measure important physical properties. For example, some of the grippers to be made will be small enough to grasp a single red blood cell (4 microns) and sensitive enough to measure its stiffness. Knowledge of the stiffness can be used to diagnose diseases (malaria, Dengue Fever, Chikugunya Fever, and others) for which vaccines do not exist and which are very dangerous if not diagnosed. In addition to helping with diagnosis, knowledge of mechanical properties and how they change over time can provide clues to guide the development of new vaccines. The research will be conducted at the Microgripper Laboratory at the University of New Mexico (UNM) in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where it will enable UNM faculty and students to explore new frontiers in micromanipulation. The planned research will exploit ionic polymer metal composite (IPMCs), which are highly active actuators that show very large deformation in the presence of low applied voltage. While this material continues to be electroactive at smaller and smaller scales, one challenge is to cut the IPMC material in a repeatable fashion to form the fingers of the microgripper. The Raptor II YAG laser supported by this grant will be used to cut microfingers from a sheet of IPMC material. A second challenge will be measuring the force that a microfinger generates to understand the finger shapes that are most suitable for specific applications. COMSOL multi-physical simulation software will be used to validate the engineering models needed to support prototype development.

这笔赠款将支持开发非常小的机器人微夹具的制造和测试设施，这些夹具可以抓取少量的生物材料并测量重要的物理特性。 例如，一些要制造的夹具足够小，可以抓住单个红细胞（4微米），并且足够灵敏，可以测量其硬度。 硬度知识可用于诊断尚无疫苗的疾病（疟疾、登革热、基库肯雅热等），如果不诊断这些疾病将非常危险。 除了帮助诊断之外，了解机械特性及其随时间变化的情况还可以为指导新疫苗的开发提供线索。 该研究将在位于新墨西哥州阿尔伯克基的新墨西哥大学 (UNM) 的微夹具实验室进行，该实验室将使新墨西哥大学的教职员工和学生能够探索显微操作的新领域。 计划中的研究将利用离子聚合物金属复合材料（IPMC），这是一种高活性执行器，在低施加电压下会表现出非常大的变形。虽然这种材料在越来越小的尺度上仍然具有电活性，但一个挑战是以可重复的方式切割 IPMC 材料以形成微夹具的手指。这笔拨款支持的 Raptor II YAG 激光器将用于从 IPMC 材料片上切割微指。第二个挑战是测量微指产生的力，以了解最适合特定应用的手指形状。 COMSOL 多物理仿真软件将用于验证支持原型开发所需的工程模型。