Special Issue "Microgrippers"

A special issue of Micromachines (ISSN 2072-666X). This special issue belongs to the section "E:Engineering and Technology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (10 August 2021).

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Nicola Pio Belfiore
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Engineering, Roma Tre University, Via Vito Volterra 62, 00146 Rome, Italy
Interests: functional design; MEMS/NEMS; dynamic simulation of multi-body systems; robotics; topology; tribology
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The progressive miniaturization of grasping devices is opening new frontiers in very different fields of application, such as biology, surgery, drug delivery, diagnosis, manufacturing, assembly, automotive, and aerospace. Unfortunately, the design criteria generally adopted at the macroscale cannot also be applied at the microscale, mainly because of significant scaling phenomena that make motion and actuation rather difficult to achieve, and so we must arrive at a new paradigm for design. Although there is a large variety of micro- and nanogrippers described in the scientific literature, most of them have just one degree of freedom (DoF) and limited dexterity, while in some applications multiple DoFs and high dexterity would be greatly welcome.

Increasing the number of DoFs or dexterity is still a challenge in microsystem design because it generally requires a greater number of hinges or a more complex geometry. In fact, motion in MEMS or NEMS relies on material compliance. For example, lumped or distributed compliance can be adopted to provide a microgripper with a certain mobility capacity. In both cases, the mechanical structure must be conveniently shaped in order to guarantee both compliance and resistance, with a consequent increase in the geometrical complexity. Therefore, the mechanical design becomes an important phase in the development of a microgripper. On the other hand, a more complicated geometry gives rise to difficult problems in fabrication, and this is still a challenge.

For all these reasons, the present Special Issue is open to original contributions that will help to cope with these problems. In particular, this Special Issue is dedicated to the proposal of  new microgrippers, their simulation and experimental testing, and finally to the technological processes for fabrication they require.

Prof. Dr. Nicola Pio Belfiore
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • microfabrication
  • nanofabrication
  • microsystem design
  • microgrippers
  • nanogrippers
  • tweezers

Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

Article
Heat Transfer Scale Effect Analysis and Parameter Measurement of an Electrothermal Microgripper
Micromachines 2021, 12(3), 309; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi12030309 - 15 Mar 2021
Viewed by 469
Abstract
An electrothermal microgripper is an important actuator in microelectromechanical and micro-operating systems, and its temperature field analysis is the core problem in research and design. Because of the small size of an electrothermal microgripper, its microscale heat transfer characteristics are different from those [...] Read more.
An electrothermal microgripper is an important actuator in microelectromechanical and micro-operating systems, and its temperature field analysis is the core problem in research and design. Because of the small size of an electrothermal microgripper, its microscale heat transfer characteristics are different from those of the macrostate. At present, only a few studies on the heat transfer scale effect in electrothermal microgrippers have been conducted, and the heat transfer analysis method under the macrostate is often used directly. The temperature field analysed and simulated is different from the actual situation. In the present study, the heat transfer mechanism of an electrothermal microgripper in the microscale was analysed. The temperature field of a series of microscale heating devices was measured using microthermal imaging equipment, and the heat transfer parameters of the microscale were fitted. Results show that the natural convective heat transfer coefficient of air on the microscale can reach 60–300 times that on the macroscale, which is an important heat transfer mode affecting the temperature field distribution of the electrothermal microgripper. Combined with the finite element simulation software, the temperature field of the electrothermal microgripper could be accurately simulated using the experimental microscale heat transfer parameters measured. This study provides an important theoretical basis and data support for the optimal design of the temperature controller of the electrothermal microgripper. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Microgrippers)
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