The development of a LIGA-microfabricated gripper for micromanipulation tasks

The manipulation of mechanical and biological microobjects is important for many applications in basic research and, possibly, for industrial processes. The end-effector is the key component for obtaining safe and effective micromanipulation. Among the different technologies which can be used for fabricating the end-effector, we intend to exploit LIGA. The design of the LIGA-fabricated microgripper is described in detail; the performance of two test microgrippers (fabricated by standard mechanical machining) are described and critically analysed.