Collinear-Type Statically Balanced Compliant Micro Mechanism (SB-CMM): Experimental Comparison Between Pre-Curved and Straight Beams

The feasibility of collinear-type statically balanced compliant micro mechanism (SB-CMM) with pre-curved beams has been studied experimentally and compares to those with initially straight beams. The collinear-type SB-CMM is a near zero stiffness micro mechanism with a near zero actuation force in a finite range of motion. However, from the experimental data, it was found that the collinear-type SB-CMM are sensitive to fabrication errors, as a results negative or positive constant force instead of zero actuation force maybe obtained. For the case of pre-curved beams, the curvature can be tuned for better zero stiffness behavior. Further improvements in the concept are considered towards a robust design and reliable prototypes, such as optimization and accurate dimensioning and fabrication.