A Cross-Scale Manipulator Based on Magnetic-Driven Microwedges

The dimensions of components have recently expanded in range from the micrometer to centimeter scale in MEMS assembly, necessitating the regulation of adhesion force across a broad range to accommodate cross-scale micromanipulation tasks. Inspired by gecko, anisotropic microwedges can effectively regulate adhesion force by varying the contact area. On this basis, we propose a cross-scale manipulator based on magnetic-driven microwedges. Microwedges embedded with magnetic particles bend along the inclined direction in a unidirectional magnetic field, providing a larger adhesion area to realize pick-up tasks. While the magnetic field is driven in a dual directive mode, the interface between microwedges and the target is progressively disrupted, reducing the adhesion area until the place operation is completed. During the entire process, the actual adhesion area can be detected through microscopic vision to judge whether the pick-and-place conditions are met. Experiments indicate that the ratio of maximum and minimum adhesion force provided by the manipulator can reach 2335.2. The size of silicon wafers which can be put up and placed successfully is from 0.3×0.3×0.1 mm<sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">3</sup> to 3×3×0.4 mm<sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">3</sup>, and the volume ratio between them can reach 400. Especially, the proposed manipulator can perform assembly tasks, which shows its stability and capability of cross-scale micromanipulation.