Design and analysis of flexure-hinge parameter in microgripper

Abstract

In the precision engineering field, a large number of applications require precise and microlevel manipulations, and microgrippers are an essential device to achieve precise manipulations. Highly precise movements are, in general, hard to achieve using conventional joints due to manufacturing error and backlash. In this paper, a new two-dimensional, compliant, monolithic piezo-actuated microgripper using flexure hinges is reported. The microgripper is designed, and a comparison study on stress and displacement is done by varying the hinge parameters such as the hinge radius, web thickness, position of flexure hinge, and radius of curvature of hinges. Kinematics of the microgripper is analyzed based on input/output displacement for all the above hinge design variations using FEM, and a kinematic model is arrived at based on the hinge location. © 2010 Springer-Verlag London Limited.