Integrated silicon-PDMS process for microrobot mechanisms

Author

Gerratt, Aaron P. ; Penskiy, Ivan ; Bergbreiter, Sarah

Author_Institution

Mech. Eng. Dept., Univ. of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA

fYear

2010

fDate

3-7 May 2010

Firstpage

3153

Lastpage

3158

Abstract

The first MEMS process integrating soft elastomers in a standard silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafer without assembly has been demonstrated for use in microrobotic mechanisms. This process allows silicon and poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) features to be defined in-plane with feature sizes down to 2 μm. Test structures have been used to characterize the Young´s modulus of the resulting PDMS at 1.4 MPa along with adhesion to silicon structures. In addition, compliant flexures have been designed, fabricated and characterized for eventual use in microrobot legs. Test structures have been mechanically folded 180° out of plane over 60 times without failure.

Keywords

Young´s modulus; elastomers; microrobots; silicon; silicon-on-insulator; MEMS; SOI wafer; Young´s modulus; compliant flexure; microrobot mechanism; poly(dimethylsiloxane); silicon-PDMS process; silicon-on-insulator; soft elastomer; Actuators; Energy storage; Fabrication; Leg; Legged locomotion; Micromechanical devices; Robotic assembly; Robots; Robustness; Silicon;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Robotics and Automation (ICRA), 2010 IEEE International Conference on

Conference_Location

Anchorage, AK

ISSN

1050-4729

Print_ISBN

978-1-4244-5038-1

Electronic_ISBN

1050-4729

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/ROBOT.2010.5509653

Filename

5509653