An approach to validate the design and fabrication of dielectric elastomer tactile sensor

Zhu, Yuting; Tairych, Andreas; Rosset, Samuel; Anderson, Iain A.

doi:10.1117/12.2515283

Cited by 2 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…According to reports in the literature, 5 mm is the ideal padding thickness for this design. 15 Figure 7 shows the comparison between IDEs sensors based on 0.4wt% of carbon black/Ecoflex gel and the DES with the passive layer (made of Ecoflex T M Gel) at the bottom. The base capacitance of DES is about 378 pF, and the base capacitance of the IDEs sensors with the same sensing area is 87 pF.…”

Section: Comparison Between Ides Sensors and Desmentioning

confidence: 99%

For dielectric elastomers, fringe-sensing is not as quirky as it sounds

Mahmoudinezhad¹,

Anderson²,

Rosset³

2023

Electroactive Polymer Actuators and Devices (EAPAD) XXV

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Capacitive dielectric elastomer sensors (DES) are well-known in robotic sensing applications due to their sensitivity and stability under tensile strain. These sensors rely on changes in geometry to detect deformation. Since DES are thin, they are resistant to out-of-plane compression and this is made more difficult if they are bonded to a rigid surface. Here, we present a new type of DES that detects changes in the fringe field between interdigitated electrodes (IDEs). This is made possible using a compression sensitive silicone/carbon black composite that sits atop the electrodes. The IDEs create a fringing field extending into the composite whose relative permittivity can change by 250% when compressed. As a result, there is no longer any design challenges brought on by the incompressibility of elastomers. Additionally, since compliant electrodes are not required in this configuration, and the electrodes are kept in a single plane on a commercial PCB, the fabrication process is simple. This sensor is convenient to be used as a tactile sensor for either conventional rigid or soft robotic grippers, allowing the safe manipulation of soft and delicate objects.

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Section: Comparison Between Ides Sensors and Desmentioning

confidence: 99%

For dielectric elastomers, fringe-sensing is not as quirky as it sounds

Mahmoudinezhad¹,

Anderson²,

Rosset³

2023

Electroactive Polymer Actuators and Devices (EAPAD) XXV

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show abstract

“…Typical electro-mechanical properties [1][2][3] are large dielectric strength (electric breakdown, E B ≈ 30-300 MV/m), relative dielectric constant in the range r ≈ 2-10, high volume resistance (ρ leak,0 ≈ 0.2-1000 TΩ • m), incompressibility (Poisson's ratio ν ≈ 0.5), large ultimate stretch (λ B ≈ 200-800%), and low-to-moderate shear modulus (i.e., infinitesimal initial shear modulus µ ≈ 20-500 kPa). In the current state-of-the-art, these smart materials have been successfully employed in a large variety of applications, such as human-like artificial muscles for soft robots (e.g., [4][5][6]), strain and pressure sensors (e.g., [7,8]), and energy harvesters from natural resources (e.g., [9,10]). Currently, the DE governing principle is well known: an incompressible and electrically non-conductive polymeric membrane is coated with compliant electrodes to form a highly deformable capacitor.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Styrenic-Rubber Dielectric Elastomer Actuator with Inherent Stiffness Compensation

et al. 2020

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Up to date, Dielectric Elastomer Actuators (DEA) have been mostly based on either silicone or acrylic elastomers, whereas the potential of DEAs based on inexpensive, wide-spread natural and synthetic rubbers has been scarcely investigated. In this paper, a DEA based on a styrene-based rubber is demonstrated for the first time. Using a Lozenge-Shaped DEA (LS-DEA) layout and following a design procedure previously proposed by the authors, we develop prototypes featuring nearly-zero mechanical stiffness, in spite of the large elastic modulus of styrenic rubber. Stiffness compensation is achieved by simply taking advantage of a biaxial pre-stretching of the rubber DE membrane, with no need for additional stiffness cancellation mechanical elements. In the paper, we present a characterization of the styrene rubber-based LS-DEA in different loading conditions (namely, isopotential, isometric, and isotonic), and we prove that actuation strokes of at least 18% the actuator side length can be achieved, thanks to the proposed stiffness-compensated design.

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An approach to validate the design and fabrication of dielectric elastomer tactile sensor

Cited by 2 publications

References 3 publications

For dielectric elastomers, fringe-sensing is not as quirky as it sounds

For dielectric elastomers, fringe-sensing is not as quirky as it sounds

Styrenic-Rubber Dielectric Elastomer Actuator with Inherent Stiffness Compensation

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