Microfabricated Robot Hand System Integrated with Transparent Suctioning Head and Dual-Metalens Camera

We successfully demonstrated, for the first time, a microfabricated robot hand system integrated with a transparent elastomer suctioning diaphragm and a dual-metalens camera. The camera can capture both the far- and near-views by a single image sensor, enabling state recognition of both an object being suctioned and a farfield mating target with a compact optical system. As a result, we achieved 60% of volume reduction than that with traditional optics. Suctioning of a metallic weight up to 800 g was achieved with a 22×20 mm² diaphragm, and mating of a plug and a receptacle was successfully demonstrated. The results validated the effectiveness of micro-optical systems with metalenses for sensing applications.