• Journal of the Korean Society of Manufacturing Technology Engineers
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.563-569
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• 2012

In the semiconductor and display device production processes, the handling of sensitive objects needs new carrying technology. Floating carrying motion is a practical alternative solution for non-contact handling of parts and substrates. This paper presents a study of through paths inside the air pressure pick-up head to generate the floating motion. The air motion by conceptual designed paths inside the head gradually develops positive pressure and vacuum between narrow objects. Positive pressure occurs through the head tip before discharging outside of the head. Negative pressure is developed by evacuating the inside head bottom as result of the radial flow connecting the vertical through-holes. The numerical analysis was done to figure out the stable levitation caused by the two acting forces between surfaces. In comparing with the standard case that the levitation gap gets 0.7-0.9 mm, it confirms the suggested head characteristics to show floating capacity in accordance with the head size, number of through-hole, and locations of through-hole in succession of conceptual design for a prototype.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2007.05a
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• pp.1613-1616
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• 2007

A microgripper using thermal actuator and SU-8 polymer was designed and fabricated to manipulate cells and microparts. A chip size of a microgripper was 3 mm ${\times}$ 5 mm. The thermally actuated microgripper consisted of two couples of hot and cold arm actuators. The high thermal expansion coefficient, 52 $ppm/^{\circ}C$, of SU-8 compared to silicon and metals, allows the actuation of the microgripper. Thickness and width of SU-8 as an end-effector were 26 ${\mu}m$ and 80 ${\mu}m$, respectively. Initial gap between left jaw and right jaw was 120 ${\mu}m$. The ANSYS program as FEM tool was introduced to analyze the thermal distribution and displacement induced by thermal actuators. $XeF_2$ gas was used for isotropic silicon dry etching process to release SU-8 end-effector. Mechanical displacements of the fabricated microgripper were measured by optical microscopy in the range of input voltage from 0 V to 2.5 V. The maximum displacement between two jaws of a microgripper Type OG 1_1 was 22.4 ${\mu}m$ at 2.5 V.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2003.04a
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• pp.758-763
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• 2003

This paper describes the development of a 6-axis robot's finger force/moment sensor, which measures forces Fx, Fy, Fz, and moments Mx, My, Mz simultaneously, for making a robot's gripper. In order to safely grasp and unknown object using the robot's gripper, it should measure the force in the gripping direction and the force in the gravity direction, and perform the force control using the measured forces. Thus, the robot's gripper should be composed of 6-axis robot's finger force/moment sensor that can measure forces Fx, Fy, Fz, and moments Mx, My, Mz simultaneously. In this paper, the 6-axis robot's finger force/moment sensor for measuring forces Fx, Fy, Fz, and moments Mx, My, Mz simultaneously was newly modeled using several parallel-plate beams, designed, and fabricated. The characteristic test of made sensor was performed. Also, Robot's gripper with the 6-axis robot's finger force/moment sensor for the characteristic test of force control was manufactured, and the characteristic test for grasping an unknown object was performed using it.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.157-164
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• 2014

In this paper, we design a gripping force control system using tactile sensor to prevent slip when gripper tries to grasp and lift an object. We use a flexible tactile sensor for measuring uniplanar pressure on gripper's finger and develop an algorithm to detect the onset of slip using the sensor output. We also use a flexible pressure sensor to measure the normal force. In addition, various signal processing techniques are used to reduce noise included in the sensor output. A 3-finger gripper is used to grasp and lift up a cylindrical object. The tactile sensor is attached on one of fingers, and sends output signals to detect slip. Whenever the sensor signal is similar to the slip pattern, gripper force is increased. In conclusion, this research shows that slip can be detected using the tactile sensor and we can control gripping force to eliminate slip between gripper and object.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Manufacturing Technology Engineers
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.401-407
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• 2012

The recent manufacturing process in the thin wafers and flat panel necessitate new approaches to reduce handling fragile and surface-sensitive damage of components. This paper presents a new pneumatic levitation for non-contact handling of parts and substrates. This levitation can achieve non-contact handling by blowing air into an air pressure pick-up head with radial passages to generate a negative pressure region. Negative pressure is caused by the radial air flow by nozzle throat and through holes connecting to the bottom region. The numerical analysis deals with the levitational motion with different design factors. The dynamic motion is examined in terms of force balance(dynamic equilibrium) occurring to the flow field between two objects. The stable equilibrium position and the safe separation distance are determined by analyzing the local pressure distribution in the fluid motion. They make considerable design factors consisting the air pressure pick-up head. As a result, in case that the safe separation distance is beyond 0.7mm, the proposed pick-up head can levitate stably at the equilibrium position. Furthermore, it can provide little effect of torque, and obtain more wide picking region according to the head size.

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.156-163
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• 2003

Polypyrrole microactuators have been fabricated by the standard surface micromachining method combined with the electropolymerization of polypyrrole. The fundamental structure to verify the feasibility of the fabrication process is polypyrrole cantilever. Based on these process, polypyrrole grippers and valves for the manipulation of the cell have been fabricated. Grippers have the structure of bone and muscle which are rigid polymers and polypyrrole, respectively. Valves have the assembled structure of channels with polypyrrole cantilevers. The proposed fabrication process and structures are expected to be used for bio-related applications, for example, the cell manipulation.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Visualization
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.54-62
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• 2021

This study has investigated the 3-D deflection characteristics of a flexible plate levitated by non-contact grippers using SPIV method. The measuring instrument consisted of a flexible plate located under four non-contact grippers and two cameras at the bottom of a transparent acrylic plate. Measurements were made on two materials (PVC and PC) for the plate with 50×50 cm2 area and 1 mm thickness. The deflection characteristics and flatness vary depending on the plate material, the gripper position and the air flow supplied to the gripper. For the material of PVC, the overall defection is convex. As the gripper position goes outward from the plate center, the upmost bending point also moves to the outside of the plate with the flatness increasing. However, the air flow rate does not affect the deflection pattern except for the small increase of flatness. For the material of PC, the shape of deflection changes from convex to concave as the gripper position goes out. The flatness is the highest at the point of transition from convex to concave, but the air flowrate has little effect on the flatness.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.174-184
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• 1997

This paper presents a robust force tracking control of a smart flexible gripper featured by a piezoceramic actuator characterizing its durability and quick response time. A mathematical governing equation for the proposed gripper structure is derived by employing Hamilton's principle and a state space control model is subsequently obtained through model analysis. Uncertain system parameters such as frequency variation are included in the control model. A sliding mode control theory which has inherent robustness to the sys- tem uncertainties is adopted to design a force tracking controller for the piezoceramic actuator. Using out- put information from the tip force sensor, a full-order observer is constructed to estimate state variables of the system. Force tracking performances for desired trajectories represented by sinusoidal and step func- tions are evaluated by undertaking both simulation and experimental works. In addition, in order to illustrate practical feasibility of the proposed method, a two-fingered gripper is constructed and its performance is demonstrated by showing a capability of holding an object.

• The Journal of Korea Robotics Society
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.58-64
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• 2024

The ability of the robot gripper to handle a wide range of objects significantly impacts its operational effectiveness. Among the robot grippers commonly used, the economically feasible choice is the relatively simple structure of a parallel gripper. To perform more densely packed tasks with a parallel gripper, it should be capable of handling small objects. Therefore, this study designs a parallel gripper mechanism equipped with assisting grippers to ensure smooth grasping of small objects. The parallel gripper is designed using a rack and pinion gear system, with two additional grippers on both side, and these assisting grippers are designed to be detachable. The two assisting grippers have different type of tip to grasp thin fabric shapes and thin stick shapes. The gripper prototype is used to verify the grasping capabilities for shapes achievable with a conventional parallel gripper and those intended for grasping with the assisting grippers through grasping experiments. Consequently, by equipping a conventional parallel gripper with assisting grippers as in this study, it becomes capable of handling a broader range of objects, in addition to its existing functionality.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
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• 2013.05a
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• pp.309-310
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• 2013