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2-dimensional impact-damping electrostatic actuators with elastomer-enhanced auxetic structure.

ABSTRACT: Biomimetic robots yearn for compliant actuators that are comparable to biological muscle in both functions and structural properties. For that, electrostatic actuators have been developed to imitate bio-muscle in features of fast response, high power, energy-efficiency, etc. However, those actuators typically lack impact damping performance, making them vulnerable and unstable in real applications. Here, we present auxetic electrostatic actuators that address this issue and demonstrate muscle-like performance by using elastomer-enhanced auxetics and electrostatic zipping mechanism. The proposed actuators contract linearly on applied voltage, producing large actuation strength (15 N) and contraction ratio (59%). Fabricated from readily available materials, our prototypes can quickly attenuate vibrations caused by impacts and absorb shock energy in 0.3 s. Furthermore, leveraging their 2-dimensional working mode and self-locking mechanism, a stiffness-changing muscle for a robotic arm and an active tensegrity device exemplify the potential applications of auxetic electrostatic actuators to a wide range of bionic robots.

SUBMITTER: Wang X

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11347668 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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2-dimensional impact-damping electrostatic actuators with elastomer-enhanced auxetic structure.

Wang Xuechuan X Wang Yongyue Y Zhu Mingzhu M Yue Xiaokui X

Nature communications 20240826 1

Biomimetic robots yearn for compliant actuators that are comparable to biological muscle in both functions and structural properties. For that, electrostatic actuators have been developed to imitate bio-muscle in features of fast response, high power, energy-efficiency, etc. However, those actuators typically lack impact damping performance, making them vulnerable and unstable in real applications. Here, we present auxetic electrostatic actuators that address this issue and demonstrate muscle-li ...[more]

PMID: 39187517

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Project description:This paper contributes to a new design of the three-dimensional printable robotic ball joints capable of creating the controllable stiffness linkage between two robot links through pneumatic actuation. The variable stiffness ball joint consists of a soft pneumatic elastomer actuator, a support platform, an inner ball and a socket. The ball joint structure, including the inner ball and the socket, is three-dimensionally printed using polyamide-12 (PA12) by selective laser sintering (SLS) technology as an integral mechanism without the requirement of assembly. The SLS technology can make the ball joint have the advantages of low weight, simple structure, easy to miniaturize and good MRI compatibility. The support platform is designed as a friction-based braking component to increase the stiffness of the ball joint while withstanding the external loads. The soft pneumatic elastomer actuator is responsible for providing the pushing force for the support platform, thereby modulating the frictional force between the inner ball, the socket and the support platform. The most remarkable feature of the proposed variable stiffness design is that the ball joint has 'zero' stiffness when no pressurized air is supplied. In the natural state, the inner ball can be freely rotated and twist inside the socket. The proposed ball joint can be quickly stiffened to lock the current position and orientation of the inner ball relative to the socket when the pressurized air is supplied to the soft pneumatic elastomer actuator. The relationship between the stiffness of the ball joint and the input air pressure is investigated in both rotating and twisting directions. The finite element analysis is conducted to optimize the design of the support platform. The stiffness tests are conducted, demonstrating that a significant stiffness enhancement, up to approximately 508.11 N·mm reaction torque in the rotational direction and 571.93 N·mm reaction torque in the twisting direction at the pressure of 400 kPa, can be obtained. Multiple ball joints can be easily assembled to form a variable stiffness structure, in which each ball joint has a relative position and an independent stiffness. Additionally, the degrees of freedom (DOF) of the ball joint can be readily restricted to build the single-DOF or two-DOFs variable stiffness joints for different robotic applications.

Dataset Information

2-dimensional impact-damping electrostatic actuators with elastomer-enhanced auxetic structure.

Publications

2-dimensional impact-damping electrostatic actuators with elastomer-enhanced auxetic structure.

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