Electrostrictive polymer artificial muscle actuators

Kornbluh, Roy; Pelrine, Ron; Eckerle, Joseph; Joseph, Jose

doi:10.1109/robot.1998.680638

Cited by 126 publications

(92 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…The first reported DE-based rotary motor, developed by workers at SRI, mechanically converted vertical motion to rotary motion using a spring roll actuated rocker arm that transmitted torque to a wheel through a oneway roller clutch. 64 Rotary actuation has also been produced using antagonistically coupled DE radially arranged within the same membrane, as demonstrated by Anderson et al whose multi-phase actuators imparted rotary motion through an orbiting gear drive 65 or crank. 66 Further development on the orbiting gear motor led to a breakthrough that enabled a multi-DOF actuator (Fig.…”

Section: Multi-degree-of-freedom De Actuationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Multi-functional dielectric elastomer artificial muscles for soft and smart machines

Anderson

Gisby²,

McKay³

et al. 2012

Journal of Applied Physics

559

314

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Dielectric elastomer (DE) actuators are popularly referred to as artificial muscles because their impressive actuation strain and speed, low density, compliant nature, and silent operation capture many of the desirable physical properties of muscle. Unlike conventional robots and machines, whose mechanisms and drive systems rapidly become very complex as the number of degrees of freedom increases, groups of DE artificial muscles have the potential to generate rich motions combining many translational and rotational degrees of freedom. These artificial muscle systems can mimic the agonist-antagonist approach found in nature, so that active expansion of one artificial muscle is taken up by passive contraction in the other. They can also vary their stiffness. In addition, they have the ability to produce electricity from movement. But departing from the high stiffness paradigm of electromagnetic motors and gearboxes leads to new control challenges, and for soft machines to be truly dexterous like their biological analogues, they need precise control. Humans control their limbs using sensory feedback from strain sensitive cells embedded in muscle. In DE actuators, deformation is inextricably linked to changes in electrical parameters that include capacitance and resistance, so the state of strain can be inferred by sensing these changes, enabling the closed loop control that is critical for a soft machine. But the increased information processing required for a soft machine can impose a substantial burden on a central controller. The natural solution is to distribute control within the mechanism itself. The octopus arm is an example of a soft actuator with a virtually infinite number of degrees of freedom (DOF). The arm utilizes neural ganglia to process sensory data at the local “arm” level and perform complex tasks. Recent advances in soft electronics such as the piezoresistive dielectric elastomer switch (DES) have the potential to be fully integrated with actuators and sensors. With the DE switch, we can produce logic gates, oscillators, and a memory element, the building blocks for a soft computer, thus bringing us closer to emulating smart living structures like the octopus arm. The goal of future research is to develop fully soft machines that exploit smart actuation networks to gain capabilities formerly reserved to nature, and open new vistas in mechanical engineering.

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Section: Multi-degree-of-freedom De Actuationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Multi-functional dielectric elastomer artificial muscles for soft and smart machines

Anderson

Gisby²,

McKay³

et al. 2012

Journal of Applied Physics

559

314

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Some of the actuators that were considered for this role include ionic polymer metal composites (IPMCs), dielectric elastomers, piezoelectrics, and shape memory alloys. IPMCs have been used extensively for water based robotics [7], [8], as their need to be immersed in an ion-rich fluid makes them a natural choice. Dielectric elastomers are notable for being employed in a large number of geometries and for having very large deformations [7].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…IPMCs have been used extensively for water based robotics [7], [8], as their need to be immersed in an ion-rich fluid makes them a natural choice. Dielectric elastomers are notable for being employed in a large number of geometries and for having very large deformations [7]. Both piezoelectric ceramics and polymers are well known for being capable of operating above 1kHz at moderate voltages, and the ceramics can also generate large stresses [8].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Design, fabrication and analysis of a body-caudal fin propulsion system for a microrobotic fish

Cho

Hawkes

Quinn

et al. 2008

2008 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation

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Abstract-In this paper, we present the design and fabrication of a centimeter-scale propulsion system for a robotic fish. The key to the design is selection of an appropriate actuator and a body frame that is simple and compact. SMA spring actuators are customized to provide the necessary work output for the microrobotic fish. The flexure joints, electrical wiring and attachment pads for SMA actuators are all embedded in a single layer of copper laminated polymer film, sandwiched between two layers of glass fiber. Instead of using individual actuators to rotate each joint, each actuator rotates all the joints to a certain mode shape and undulatory motion is created by a timed sequence of these mode shapes. Subcarangiform swimming mode of minnows has been emulated using five links and four actuators. The size of the four-joint propulsion system is 6mm wide, 40 mm long with the body frame thickness of 0.25mm.

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“…To overcome this problem numerous works have been presented on active catheters and endoscopes which try to increase their maneuverability. Much of these works have focused on developing a new form of actuation, such as shape memory allows (SMA) [4] and electric polymer artificial muscles (EPAM) [5].…”

Section: Related Work In Medical Devicesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…An EPAM based snake-like endoscopic robot was developed at Stanford Research Institute (SRI). The device is composed of several spherical joints attached serially around a concentric spine [5]. Another popular actuation scheme is wire actuation, such as the arthroscope tool developed at the Santa Anna laboratory in Pisa, Italy, [8].…”

Section: Related Work In Medical Devicesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Highly articulated robotic probe for minimally invasive surgery

Degani

Choset

Zubiate³

et al.

Proceedings 2006 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, 2006. ICRA 2006.

168

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We have developed a novel highly articulated robotic probe (HARP) that can thread through tightly packed volumes without disturbing the surrounding tissues and organs. We use cardiac surgery as the focal application of this work. As such, we have designed the HARP to enter the pericardial cavity through a subxiphoid port. The surgeon can effectively reach remote intrapericardial locations on the epicardium and deliver therapeutic interventions under direct control. Our device differs from others in that we use conventional actuation and still have great maneuverability. We have performed proof-of-concept clinical experiments to give us preliminary validation of the ideas presented here.

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Electrostrictive polymer artificial muscle actuators

Cited by 126 publications

References 11 publications

Multi-functional dielectric elastomer artificial muscles for soft and smart machines

Multi-functional dielectric elastomer artificial muscles for soft and smart machines

Design, fabrication and analysis of a body-caudal fin propulsion system for a microrobotic fish

Highly articulated robotic probe for minimally invasive surgery

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