Design and Application of a Kind of Micro-Gripper with Pneumatic Control System

In this paper, a kind of micro-gripper is introduced using vacuum adsorption method. The gripper is used to grasp a mm size micro-part in a micro-assembly process. Because of the requirement of the adsorption force, the negative pressure control system is employed which can let the micro-gripper inhale and exhale freely. Accordingly, the adsorption force of the micro-gripper can be controlled accurately. The PLC controller is used to get the pressure information from the electronic proportional valve. The PID control law is employed to adjust the opening of the valve. In this way, the micro-gripper can easily clamping and release micro-part especially for some micro-parts with adsorption effect. Experiments show that the adsorption force on the micro-part is greater than 0.5N satisfying the requirement of the clamp to grasp the micro-part.