THE DEVELOPMENT OF A LIGA-MICROFABRICATED GRIPPER FOR MICROMANIPULATION TASKS

The manipulation of mechanical and biological microobjects is importan t for many applications in basic research and, possibly, for industria l processes. The end-effector is the key component for obtaining safe and effective micromanipulation. Among the different technologies whic h can be used for fabricating the end-effector, we intend to exploit L IGA. The design of the LIGA-fabricated microgripper is described in de tail; the performance of two test microgrippers (fabricated by standar d mechanical machining) are described and critically analysed.