Biomimetic underwater robots based on dielectric elastomer actuators

Shintake, Jun; Shea, Herbert; Floreano, Dario

doi:10.1109/iros.2016.7759728

Cited by 67 publications

(45 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…Although the speeds and efficiencies of the DEAs reported in (10,11,19) are much higher than those described in this work, we have done so without any prestrain, eliminating the need for rigid or semi-rigid members to maintain a stretch. This results in a fully soft elastomeric robot.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 86%

“…Ionic fluid electrodes are especially interesting for use with DEAs in underwater environments or for fluid applications. The swimming DEAs presented by Godaba et al (10) and Shintake et al (11) rely on carbon-based electrodes, requiring the need for encapsulation layers and patterned electrode pairs found in both designs and imparting additional stiffness due to the electrode and encapsulation layers. A recent hybrid approach combining both hydrogel and fluid electrodes demonstrated a fast-moving soft electronic fish in which hydrogels served as one of the electrodes in a DEA, and the surrounding fluid was used as the ground electrode (19).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Translucent soft robots driven by frameless fluid electrode dielectric elastomer actuators

et al. 2018

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Dielectric elastomer actuators (DEAs) are a promising enabling technology for a wide range of emerging applications, including robotics, artificial muscles, and microfluidics. This is due to their large actuation strains, rapid response rate, low cost and low noise, high energy density, and high efficiency when compared with alternative actuators. These properties make DEAs ideal for the actuation of soft submersible devices, although their use has been limited because of three main challenges: (i) developing suitable, compliant electrode materials; (ii) the need to effectively insulate the actuator electrodes from the surrounding fluid; and (iii) the rigid frames typically required to prestrain the dielectric layers. We explored the use of a frameless, submersible DEA design that uses an internal chamber filled with liquid as one of the electrodes and the surrounding environmental liquid as the second electrode, thus simplifying the implementation of soft, actuated submersible devices. We demonstrated the feasibility of this approach with a prototype swimming robot composed of transparent bimorph actuator segments and inspired by transparent eel larvae, leptocephali. This design achieved undulatory swimming with a maximum forward swimming speed of 1.9 millimeters per second and a Froude efficiency of 52%. We also demonstrated the capability for camouflage and display through the body of the robot, which has an average transmittance of 94% across the visible spectrum, similar to a leptocephalus. These results suggest a potential for DEAs with fluid electrodes to serve as artificial muscles for quiet, translucent, swimming soft robots for applications including surveillance and the unobtrusive study of marine life.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 86%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Translucent soft robots driven by frameless fluid electrode dielectric elastomer actuators

et al. 2018

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“…Another research group fabricated a Jellyfish robot using a unimorph DEA configuration, and a fish robot with a bimorph DEA [114]. In these robots, reliable operation is guaranteed by insulating a high-voltage electrode with a silicone layer (CF19-2186) which also acts as the DE layer.…”

Section: Swimming Robotmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dielectric Elastomer Actuator for Soft Robotics Applications and Challenges

et al. 2020

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This paper reviews state-of-the-art dielectric elastomer actuators (DEAs) and their future perspectives as soft actuators which have recently been considered as a key power generation component for soft robots. This paper begins with the introduction of the working principle of the dielectric elastomer actuators. Because the operation of DEA includes the physics of both mechanical viscoelastic properties and dielectric characteristics, we describe theoretical modeling methods for the DEA before introducing applications. In addition, the design of artificial muscles based on DEA is also introduced. This paper reviews four popular subjects for the application of DEA: soft robot hand, locomotion robots, wearable devices, and tunable optical components. Other potential applications and challenging issues are described in the conclusion.

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“…In robotics, piezoelectric actuators have been used to drive several robots as a useful application of lamination techniques [39,40]. We used a vacuum packaging machine to laminate a serial link robot with a plastic film.…”

Section: Applicationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dynamic Modeling of a Serial Link Robot Laminated with Plastic Film

Sakagami¹,

Shibata²

2018

Lamination - Theory and Application

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This chapter presents serial link robots laminated with a plastic film, a derivation of the equations of motion of the laminated robots, and numerical simulation. Recently, to become capable of wide application for several serial link robots that work outside, waterproofing and dustproofing techniques are required. We have proposed a robot packaging method to improve waterproof and dustproof properties of serial link robots. Using the proposed packaging method, rigid links with some active joints are loosely laminated with plastic film to protect the links from dust and water. In the next step of our research, we must derive the equations of motion of the laminated robots for the design and performance improvement from the viewpoint of high speed and high energy efficiency. We assume a plastic film as a closed-loop link structure with passive joints in this chapter. A rigid serial link (fin) connected with a motor-actuated joint moves a closed-loop link structure with passive joints. We numerically investigate the influence of the flexural rigidity of a plastic film on the motion of the rigid fin. This research not only contributes to the lamination techniques but also develops a novel application of waterproofing and dustproofing techniques in robotics.

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Biomimetic underwater robots based on dielectric elastomer actuators

Cited by 67 publications

References 24 publications

Translucent soft robots driven by frameless fluid electrode dielectric elastomer actuators

Translucent soft robots driven by frameless fluid electrode dielectric elastomer actuators

Dielectric Elastomer Actuator for Soft Robotics Applications and Challenges

Dynamic Modeling of a Serial Link Robot Laminated with Plastic Film

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