A Lesson from Plants: High-Speed Soft Robotic Actuators.

ABSTRACT: Rapid energy-efficient movements are one of nature's greatest developments. Mechanisms like snap-buckling allow plants like the Venus flytrap to close the terminal lobes of their leaves at barely perceptible speed. Here, a soft balloon actuator is presented, which is inspired by such mechanical instabilities and creates safe, giant, and fast deformations. The basic design comprises two inflated elastomer membranes pneumatically coupled by a pressurized chamber of suitable volume. The high-speed actuation of a rubber balloon in a state close to the verge of mechanical instability is remotely triggered by a voltage-controlled dielectric elastomer membrane. This method spatially separates electrically active and passive parts, and thereby averts electrical breakdown resulting from the drastic

SUBMITTER: Baumgartner R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7055565 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature