Abstract
We propose the fabrication process of an IPMC-based soft gripper using a plasma process which is one of the most general MEMS technologies. This method enables the fabrication of the soft gripper from a sheet of IPMC. Also, this gripper can operate in solution. As a result, the operation of the gripper fabricated by the proposed process in solution was confirmed. In order to evaluate the usability of the gripper, the bending performance and the generative force under a constant voltage appliance were measured respectively. From the results, the soft gripper was able to grab a small sample, whose diameter and weigh are 1.0 mm and 12 mg, when 3.5 V was applied in DI water. These results show a feasibility of providing a miniaturized soft gripper using IPMC which has a novel structure
