Monolithic Stacked Dielectric Elastomer Actuators

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. Th...

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Autores principales:	Jun Shintake, Daiki Ichige, Ryo Kanno, Toshiaki Nagai, Keita Shimizu
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Frontiers Media S.A. 2021
Materias:	dielectric elastomer actuators soft robotics molding microfluidics 3D printing Mechanical engineering and machinery TJ1-1570 Electronic computers. Computer science QA75.5-76.95
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/f8b1322b427a45edb3b84b980610081d
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id	oai:doaj.org-article:f8b1322b427a45edb3b84b980610081d
record_format	dspace
spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:f8b1322b427a45edb3b84b980610081d2021-11-30T21:29:41ZMonolithic Stacked Dielectric Elastomer Actuators2296-914410.3389/frobt.2021.714332https://doaj.org/article/f8b1322b427a45edb3b84b980610081d2021-11-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frobt.2021.714332/fullhttps://doaj.org/toc/2296-9144Dielectric 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.Jun ShintakeDaiki IchigeRyo KannoToshiaki NagaiKeita ShimizuFrontiers Media S.A.articledielectric elastomer actuatorssoft roboticsmoldingmicrofluidics3D printingMechanical engineering and machineryTJ1-1570Electronic computers. Computer scienceQA75.5-76.95ENFrontiers in Robotics and AI, Vol 8 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	dielectric elastomer actuators soft robotics molding microfluidics 3D printing Mechanical engineering and machinery TJ1-1570 Electronic computers. Computer science QA75.5-76.95
spellingShingle	dielectric elastomer actuators soft robotics molding microfluidics 3D printing Mechanical engineering and machinery TJ1-1570 Electronic computers. Computer science QA75.5-76.95 Jun Shintake Daiki Ichige Ryo Kanno Toshiaki Nagai Keita Shimizu Monolithic Stacked Dielectric Elastomer Actuators
description	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.
format	article
author	Jun Shintake Daiki Ichige Ryo Kanno Toshiaki Nagai Keita Shimizu
author_facet	Jun Shintake Daiki Ichige Ryo Kanno Toshiaki Nagai Keita Shimizu
author_sort	Jun Shintake
title	Monolithic Stacked Dielectric Elastomer Actuators
title_short	Monolithic Stacked Dielectric Elastomer Actuators
title_full	Monolithic Stacked Dielectric Elastomer Actuators
title_fullStr	Monolithic Stacked Dielectric Elastomer Actuators
title_full_unstemmed	Monolithic Stacked Dielectric Elastomer Actuators
title_sort	monolithic stacked dielectric elastomer actuators
publisher	Frontiers Media S.A.
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/f8b1322b427a45edb3b84b980610081d
work_keys_str_mv	AT junshintake monolithicstackeddielectricelastomeractuators AT daikiichige monolithicstackeddielectricelastomeractuators AT ryokanno monolithicstackeddielectricelastomeractuators AT toshiakinagai monolithicstackeddielectricelastomeractuators AT keitashimizu monolithicstackeddielectricelastomeractuators
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Monolithic Stacked Dielectric Elastomer Actuators

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