Advancement of Electroadhesion Technology for Intelligent and Self‐Reliant Robotic Applications

Abstract

The growing need for automation in industries has foreseen drastic advancements in the development of soft robotics in the areas of navigation systems, textiles, healthcare, and biometric monitoring. Electroadhesion (EA)‐based robotic applications benefit from ultralow power consumption, low maintenance, choices in versatile surfaces, sustainable life cycles, applicability in harsh and vacuum environments, and exteroceptive/proprioceptive abilities. It is of scientific and technological importance to comprehend the sequence of developments in working mechanisms, modeling, and materials to explore its full potential for future intelligent robotics systems. This review provides an all‐inclusive roadmap of EA technology from its inception to unprecedented developments and complex relationships across multidisciplines, viz., robotics, solid and fluid mechanics, electrostatics, haptics, space technologies, nanotechnology, and IoT.

A Soft Gripper with Granular Jamming and Electroadhesive Properties

“…[1,29] Other physical parameters, such as surface conditions and roughness can also influence the normal force. [18] Thus, we performed experimental characterization of the EA generated force (Figure 4b). The tensile machine lowers the gripper onto the flat surface and a voltage is applied from 0 to 5 kV with a step increment of 0.5 kV.…”

“…The higher surface roughness in a rigid state makes the contact area between the device and the manipulated object lower than in a soft state. [18] Contrary to EA-based grippers, GJ-based grippers can grasp objects that are powdered, moistened, and porous. [11] In this study, we chose different gripper design and material composition from already existing devices.…”

“…Electroadhesion (EA) instead is an adhesive technology that leverages the shear force generated by electrostatic forces. [18] Electroadhesive pads have been combined with different actuation technologies, such as dielectric elastomer actuation, [1] soft pneumatic actuation, [19] layer jamming, [20] and Fin-Ray structured actuation [21] . The enhanced shear force makes EA-based grippers capable of delicately grasping both flat and fragile objects without squeezing or breaking them.…”

“…[1,[22][23][24][25][26] While the adhesive force of EA pads can be tuned by regulating electrical input, EA effectiveness is highly dependent on the environmental and surface conditions of the object being grasped. [18] In particular electroadhesion is less effective for objects that are greasy, rough, or wet. [2] An additional challenge of soft grippers that rely on electroadhesion is the residual electrostatic charge that remains for a few seconds after removing the voltage and can result in difficult release of light objects.…”

An Electroadhesive Paper Gripper With Application to a Document-Sorting Robot

“…The basic structure of our gripper is the same as that of existing pad-based electroadhesive grippers [7], [8], [9], [10]; it consists of a pad with embedded interdigital electrodes and a controller that applies high voltages to the electrodes. The pad adheres to a sheet of paper via electrostatic force when a high voltage is applied to the electrodes [7], [11], [12], [13]. Thus, the gripper enables a robot to grip a sheet of paper with a simple control of its hand.…”