Journals Proceedings

Abstract

This paper presents the investigation on electrostatic devices for material handling purpose. Few example of the device is tested for work piece attachment. It is shown that the adhesive force is at a useful level to hold a small work piece. The experiment also confirms the qualitative advantages of electrostatic adhesion, such as fast attachment, low power consumption, high force to mass ratio, and easy detachment. It also works on non-conductive work piece with fairly rough surface. Further actuating the electrostatic devices at higher voltage shows that only within a certain voltage level the F - V relation is quadratic as predicted by the parallel capacitor model. Beyond this range, saturation of output force is observed.