| Abstract Scope |
Microstructured surfaces have become an innovative and sustainable strategy for robotic gripping and handling. One crucial problem appears in micro robotic handling: the release and precise placement of superlight micro-objects which, for dimensional reasons, tend to stick tenaciously to other surfaces. As the objects shrink in size, their gravitation will be too small to allow detachment by conventional mechanisms. Here, we have proposed several bioinspired designs for controlled release mechanisms of micro-objects. Following theory, numerical simulations, and demonstration experiments, fibirils with geometry modifications arranged in regular pattern, and a metastructure involving a snap-action were developed. These innovative designs proposed, due to the purely mechanical trigger for realizing the release and unprecedented high switching ratio ~104, have the potential to create a newly energy-efficient paradigm for handling and placing superlight objects. |