This grant will support the development of a fabrication and testing facility for very small robotic micro-grippers that can grasp tiny quantities of bio-materials and measure important physical properties. For example, some of the grippers to be made will be small enough to grasp a single red blood cell (4 microns) and sensitive enough to measure its stiffness. Knowledge of the stiffness can be used to diagnose diseases (malaria, Dengue Fever, Chikugunya Fever, and others) for which vaccines do not exist and which are very dangerous if not diagnosed. In addition to helping with diagnosis, knowledge of mechanical properties and how they change over time can provide clues to guide the development of new vaccines.
The research will be conducted at the Microgripper Laboratory at the University of New Mexico (UNM) in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where it will enable UNM faculty and students to explore new frontiers in micromanipulation. The planned research will exploit ionic polymer metal composite (IPMCs), which are highly active actuators that show very large deformation in the presence of low applied voltage. While this material continues to be electroactive at smaller and smaller scales, one challenge is to cut the IPMC material in a repeatable fashion to form the fingers of the microgripper. The Raptor II YAG laser supported by this grant will be used to cut microfingers from a sheet of IPMC material. A second challenge will be measuring the force that a microfinger generates to understand the finger shapes that are most suitable for specific applications. COMSOL multi-physical simulation software will be used to validate the engineering models needed to support prototype development.
