Soft robotic finger fabrication with PDMS and IPMC actuator for gripping

Abstract

Scientific community has become very contemplative about the new breakthrough of micro scale actuations in engineering and biomedical applications, such micro systems with micro actuators are becoming very useful for handling and manipulating micro objects including biological cells. For the development of such devices, it is important to select proper materials, actuators and sensing elements which play an important role in designing micro gripper. In the present discussion a survey of micro gripping is highlighted. At the same time a unique approach of micro finger design with Polydimethyl Siloxane (PDMS) is reported with experimental results. Those results are shown while the Ionic Polymer Metal Composite (IPMC) actuators are excited with mechanical and electrical stimuli.