Design of a New Bio-Inspired Dual-Axis Compliant Micromanipulator With Millimeter Strokes

This article proposes the concept design of a novel bio-inspired dual-axis compliant micromanipulator with millimeter working strokes dedicated to fiber alignment. It subtly mimics the gripping and rubbing function of human hand consisting of forefinger, purlicue, and thumb. As compared with traditional dual-axis gripper, its advantages lie in millimeter-level stroke, bidirectional rotation, less slippage, and comprehensive force sensing. To achieve dexterous and reliable manipulation, a two-degree of freedom flexible decoupling mechanism and a displacement reversing mechanism based on the leaf-shaped flexible hinge are introduced. Analytical models are derived to assess the statics and dynamics properties of the micromanipulator, which are verified by conducting finite-element analysis simulation study. A prototype driven by two voice coil motors is fabricated for experimental testing. Three high-precision strain gauges with temperature compensation are glued on the sensitive region to measure the gripping force and rubbing force. Experimental results show that the gripping stroke and rubbing stroke of the manipulator are up to 2.3 and 2.1 mm, respectively. For operating a custom-made fiber flag with a diameter of 200
$\mu$
m, a rotation stroke of more than 1000
$^{\circ }$
has been achieved, which cannot be realized by previous work with the same level of compact mechanism design.