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Monolithic Stacked Dielectric Elastomer Actuators

Authors :
Jun Shintake
Daiki Ichige
Ryo Kanno
Toshiaki Nagai
Keita Shimizu
Source :
Frontiers in Robotics and AI, Vol 8 (2021)
Publication Year :
2021
Publisher :
Frontiers Media S.A., 2021.

Abstract

Dielectric elastomer actuators (DEAs) are a promising actuator technology for soft robotics. As a configuration of this technology, stacked DEAs afford a muscle-like contraction that is useful to build soft robotic systems. In stacked DEAs, dielectric and electrode layers are alternately stacked. Thus, often a dedicated setup with complicated processes or sometimes laborious manual stacking of the layers is required to fabricate stacked actuators. In this study, we propose a method to monolithically fabricate stacked DEAs without alternately stacking the dielectric and electrode layers. In this method, the actuators are fabricated mainly through two steps: 1) molding of an elastomeric matrix containing free-form microfluidic channels and 2) injection of a liquid conductive material that acts as an electrode. The feasibility of our method is investigated via the fabrication and characterization of simple monolithic DEAs with multiple electrodes (2, 4, and 10). The fabricated actuators are characterized in terms of actuation stroke, output force, and frequency response. In the actuators, polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) and eutectic gallium–indium (EGaIn) are used for the elastomeric matrix and electrode material, respectively. Microfluidic channels are realized by dissolving a three-dimensional printed part suspended in the elastomeric structure. The experimental results show the successful implementation of the proposed method and the good agreement between the measured data and theoretical predication, validating the feasibility of the proposed method.

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
22969144
Volume :
8
Database :
Directory of Open Access Journals
Journal :
Frontiers in Robotics and AI
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
edsdoj.f8b1322b427a45edb3b84b980610081d
Document Type :
article
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.3389/frobt.2021.714332