Systems and methods for post-treatment of dry adhesive microstructures
AssigneeOnrobot A/S
InventorsMohammad Dadkhah Tehrani, Nicholas Wettels
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Abstract
Provided are systems and methods for the post-treatment of dry adhesive microstructures. The microstructures may be post-treated to comprise mushroom-like flaps at their tips to interface with the contact surface. In some aspects, a change in material composition of the microstructures in a dry adhesive may affect mechanical properties to enhance or diminish overall adhesive performance. For example, conductive additives can be added to the material to improve adhesive performance. In other aspects, microstructures comprising conductive material may allow for preload engagement sensing systems to be integrated into the microstructures.
Claims19
A system for manipulating an object, comprising:
- a backing layer;
- a printed circuit board coupled to said backing layer;
- a plurality of microstructure stalks coupled to said backing layer, wherein a microstructure stalk of said plurality of microstructure stalks comprises material doped with a conductive additive;
- and
- a polymer layer disposed at a tip of said microstructure stalk of said plurality of microstructure stalks, wherein a longitudinal axis of said polymer layer is different from a longitudinal axis of said microstructure stalk.
A method for manipulating an object, comprising:
- (a) providing a gripping system comprising (i) a backing layer, (ii) a printed circuit board coupled to said backing layer, and (iii) a plurality of microstructure stalks coupled to said backing layer, wherein a microstructure stalk of said plurality of microstructure stalks comprises material doped with a conductive additive, and (iv) a polymer layer disposed at a tip of said microstructure stalk of said plurality of microstructure stalks, wherein a longitudinal axis of said polymer layer is different from a longitudinal axis of said microstructure stalk;
- and
- (b) contacting a surface of said object with said polymer layer to engage said object.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.