An automatic vacuum microgripper

Picking and releasing the micro parts is one of the most important tasks for the microassembly robot. Downsizing the grippers used in the macro world is not suitable to fulfill the manipulation in the micro world because of the different scaling of gravity and adhesion. Therefore, a microgripper based on vacuum absorption is designed for the requirement of microassembly tasks. The design and production of the vacuum gas circuit and vacuum pipette are the key for the vac-sorb microgripper. Thus, the structure of the vac-sorb microgripper is discussed in particular as well as the requirement of the design, especially the vacuum gas circuit. The microgripper can automatically pick and release the object by means of the PC monitoring system. The experiment results testify the gripper can work reliably and safely, it satisfies the needs of the microassembly system.