Small Autonomous Robot Actuator (SARA): A Solar-powered Wireless MEMS Gripper

Solar-powered actuation of a 15 mN electrostatic MEMS gripper was demonstrated while wirelessly triggered by IEEE 802.15.4 RF signals. The solar-powered gripper was shown to actuate at a rate of 640 um/s. The complete system is composed of three capacitors and three chips: MEMS gripper, microprocessor/crystal-free radio, and solar cell array/high voltage buffer. Control signals for the electrostatic inchworm motors originate from the 3x2x0.3 mm3 chip with an ARM Cortex-M0 microprocessor and are passed through 119V high voltage buffers. Power for all components, including the crystal-free radio, microprocessor, and 119V buffers, is supplied by a multi-output array of solar cells on a CMOS SOI chip under 200 mW/cm2 irradiation.