Vacuum-Environment Robot with Integrated Payload Gripper

An apparatus, comprising:

• a drive;
• a movable arm connected to the drive, the movable arm comprising,
• a first link rotatable about the drive at a shoulder joint,
• a first actuator configured to cause a rotation of the first link about the shoulder joint,
• at least one second link connected to the first link at an elbow joint,
• at least one second actuator configured to cause a rotation of the at least one second link about the elbow joint,
• a rotary thermal coupling located at the elbow joint, the rotary thermal coupling comprising a first portion located on the first link and a second portion located on the at least one second link, and
• at least one gripper on the at least one second link, the at least one gripper being configured to carry a payload, the at least one gripper comprising,
• a dielectric substrate,
• at least one electrode disposed on the dielectric substrate, the at least one electrode being configured to cause a charge migration from the at least one electrode to the dielectric substrate to produce an attractive force on a surface of the dielectric substrate to attract the payload,
• a main electronic module configured to apply a voltage to the at least one electrode from a source of current and to produce a control signal;
• and
• an auxiliary electronic module for receiving the control signal from the main electronic module, the auxiliary electronic module being configured to at least control the voltage to the at least one electrode to control the attractive force on the surface of the dielectric substrate and to further at least detect the payload, assess a quality of the at least one gripper on the payload, and communicate a status of the payload to the main electronic module;
• wherein the rotary thermal coupling is configured to remove heat from at least one of the dielectric substrate, the at least one electrode, the main electrode module, or the auxiliary electrode module.

A method, comprising:

• providing a drive;
• providing a movable arm connected to the drive, the movable arm comprising,
• a first link rotatable about the drive at a first rotary joint,
• a rotary thermal coupling at the first rotary joint,
• a first actuator configured to cause a rotation of the first link about the first rotary joint,
• at least one second link connected to the first link at a second rotary joint,
• at least one second actuator configured to cause a rotation of the at least one second link about the second rotary joint, and
• at least one gripper on the at least one second link, the at least one gripper comprising,
• a dielectric substrate, and
• at least one electrode disposed on the dielectric substrate;
• applying a voltage to the at least one electrode with a main electronic module, from a source of current, to cause a charge migration from the at least one electrode to the dielectric substrate to produce an attractive force on the surface of the dielectric substrate to cause an attractive force between the dielectric substrate and a payload adjacent to the dielectric substrate and to be carried by the at least one gripper and to produce a control signal;
• and
• controlling the voltage to the at least one electrode using an auxiliary electronic module to control the attractive force between the dielectric substrate and the payload;
• and
• controlling the produced control signal from the main electronic module to detect the payload, assess a quality of the at least one gripper on the payload, and communicate a status of the payload to the main electronic module;
• removing heat from at least one of the dielectric substrate, the at least one electrode, the main electronic module, or the auxiliary electronic module using the rotary thermal coupling.