A Linearly Deformable Pneumatic Scalable Microgripper for Universal Mid‐Air Micromanipulation

The manipulation of microscale components with complex shape like semiconductors, 3D printed microparts, and optical lenses, remains challenging due to strong surface forces and limitations of existing methods. A 3D-printed soft pneumatic microgripper capable of rectilinear deformation is presented in this paper. It addresses these challenges through a concave design with two operational modes (snap and continuous) and an integrated adhesion-reducing mask. Fabricated with IP-PDMS two-photon polymerisation 3D printing, the microgripper achieves a 40 <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:semantics><mml:mrow><mml:mi>μ</mml:mi> <mml:mi>m</mml:mi></mml:mrow> <mml:annotation>$\umu \rm {m}$</mml:annotation></mml:semantics> </mml:math> minimum operation diameter and demonstrates a substrate-free release force as low as 11.1 nN with an adhesion switching ratio of 373 in the normal direction. Combined with rigid alignment, the device enables universal pick-and-place over a range of micro-objects and mid-air transition of ultralight components (≈1.14 <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:semantics><mml:mrow><mml:mi>μ</mml:mi> <mml:mi>g</mml:mi></mml:mrow> <mml:annotation>$\umu \rm {g}$</mml:annotation></mml:semantics> </mml:math> ) in confined spaces. With over 30000 actuation cycles without performance degradation, this scalable design can execute complex manipulation tasks through a multi-gripper system as demonstrated.