A micromanipulation setup for comparative tests of microgrippers

A micromanipulation setup allowing comparative tests of manipulation micro tools has been developed. Repeatability measurements of positioning as well as optimization of manipulation conditions can be run with parts of typically 5 to 50μm over a large set of parameters including environment conditions, substrate and tip specifications, and different strategies (robot trajectories at picking and releasing time). The workstation consists of a high precise parallel robot, the Delta3, to position the gripper, linear stages to place the parts in the field of view and two microscopes for the visual feedback and position measurement. The setup is placed in a chamber for controlling relative humidity and temperature. An interface was developed to integrate every kind of tool on the robot. Automated operations and measurement have been carried out based on localization and tracking of micro objects and gripper. Integration of micro tools was successfully accomplished and comparative tests were executed with micro tweezers. Sub micrometer position repeatability was achieved with a success rate of pick and pick operations of 95%.