Design and Fabrication of Micro Gripper using Functional Fluid Power

Abstract

Gripping and holding mechanism of automated systems in manufacturing and distribution industries are required to flexibly accommodate various product shapes. In recent years, the gripping and holding mechanisms using jamming transition have been attracting attention because they can grasp objects of various shapes. The jamming gripping mechanism generally requires a mechanical vacuum pump to adjust the internal pressure of the gripping part, and it is difficult to miniaturize the system. An electro-conjugate fluid (ECF), a type of functional fluid, can generate a strong flow by applying a high DC voltage between the positive and negative electrodes. In this study, we proposed and prototyped a new type of small gripping and holding mechanism that uses the jet flow generated by ECF and the jamming of granular material. In this report, the performance of the prototype micro gripper is experimentally and theoretically evaluated.