Design, analysis, and experimental investigations of an asymmetrical under-actuated micro-gripper

In this paper, we present a new asymmetrical under-actuated micro-gripper which can perform twisting and gripping operation to the target simultaneously actuated by a single piezoelectric actuator. Two improved hybrid amplification mechanisms were designed integrated with three different flexure hinges to enhance dynamic performances. Kinematics and dynamics models of the micro-gripper including input stiffness, displacement amplification ratio, and natural frequency based on pseudo-rigid-body method and Lagrange’s equations were derived. Proposed models were evaluated by finite element simulation studies. Experimental results shown that our designed micro-gripper possesses good performance in terms of clamping reliability and dynamic response.