Analytical modeling of dual actuated compliant beam microgripper system

This paper presents the analytical modeling for the design of a microgripper system that comprises dual jaw actuation mechanism with real-time contact sensing. The interdigitated lateral comb-drive based electrostatic actuator is used to move the gripper arms. Simultane- ous contact sensing is achieved through a transverse comb based capacitive sensor, to detect the contact between the jaws and microobject. The detailed analytical modeling of the mi- crogripper reveals that the stresses induced in the structure is well below the maximum yield stress of 7000MPa for single crystal silicon. The fabricated microgripper produced a displacement of 16 μm at gripper jaws for the applied actuation voltage of 45V, which is approximately the same as predicted by the analytical model.