Development of a piezoelectric polymer-based sensorized microgripper for microassembly and micromanipulation

This paper presents the design, fabrication, and calibration of a piezoelectric polymer-based sensorized microgripper. Electro discharge machining technology is employed to fabricate the superelastic alloy-based microgripper. It was experimentally tested to show the improvement of mechanical performance. For integration of force sensor in the microgripper, the sensor design based on the piezoelectric polymer PVDF film and fabrication process are presented. The calibration and performance test of the force sensor-integrated microgripper are experimentally carried out. The force sensor-integrated microgripper is applied to fine alignment tasks of micro opto-electrical components. Experimental results show that it can successfully provide force feedback to the operator through the haptic device and play a main role in preventing damage of assembly parts by adjusting the teaching command.