Abstract
An electro-conjugate fluid (ECF) is a type of dielectric and functional fluid that generates a powerful jet flow when subjected to high DC voltage. Although a high voltage is needed to generate the jet flow, the current is quite low at several microamperes, resulting in a total power consumption of several milliwatts. Using this smart fluid, we can develop micro fluid-driven mechanical components without any bulky pumps. Also, it is clarified that the power density of the ECF jet is higher when the electrode pair is miniaturized; therefore, it is suitable for micro actuators. Here, we propose and fabricate three types of soft actuators with an antagonistic configuration: (i) micro artificial muscle cells, (ii) a McKibben-type micro artificial muscle actuator using the ECF effect and (iii) a micro finger actuator with two chambers to bend. The actuators basically consist of a silicone rubber tube covered with a fiber sleeve and a micro pressure source using the ECF effect. Next, we apply and integrate these actuators into a micro robot hand, driven with ECF jets. The driving characteristics of the micro artificial muscle actuator and the integrated micro ECF hand with ECF fingers were fabricated and experimentally investigated. The experimental results show that this ECF jet actuation is effective for driving soft micro hands.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1929-1943 |
| Number of pages | 15 |
| Journal | Advanced Robotics |
| Volume | 24 |
| Issue number | 14 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2010 Oct 1 |
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Keywords
- antagonistic
- electro-conjugate fluid jet
- functional fluid
- Robot hand
- soft actuator
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Control and Systems Engineering
- Human-Computer Interaction
- Computer Science Applications
- Hardware and Architecture
- Software
Cite this
Electro-conjugate fluid jet-driven micro artificial antagonistic muscle actuators and their integration. / Yokota, Shinichi; Yajima, Fumiya; Takemura, Kenjiro; Edamura, Kazuya.
In: Advanced Robotics, Vol. 24, No. 14, 01.10.2010, p. 1929-1943.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Electro-conjugate fluid jet-driven micro artificial antagonistic muscle actuators and their integration
AU - Yokota, Shinichi
AU - Yajima, Fumiya
AU - Takemura, Kenjiro
AU - Edamura, Kazuya
PY - 2010/10/1
Y1 - 2010/10/1
N2 - An electro-conjugate fluid (ECF) is a type of dielectric and functional fluid that generates a powerful jet flow when subjected to high DC voltage. Although a high voltage is needed to generate the jet flow, the current is quite low at several microamperes, resulting in a total power consumption of several milliwatts. Using this smart fluid, we can develop micro fluid-driven mechanical components without any bulky pumps. Also, it is clarified that the power density of the ECF jet is higher when the electrode pair is miniaturized; therefore, it is suitable for micro actuators. Here, we propose and fabricate three types of soft actuators with an antagonistic configuration: (i) micro artificial muscle cells, (ii) a McKibben-type micro artificial muscle actuator using the ECF effect and (iii) a micro finger actuator with two chambers to bend. The actuators basically consist of a silicone rubber tube covered with a fiber sleeve and a micro pressure source using the ECF effect. Next, we apply and integrate these actuators into a micro robot hand, driven with ECF jets. The driving characteristics of the micro artificial muscle actuator and the integrated micro ECF hand with ECF fingers were fabricated and experimentally investigated. The experimental results show that this ECF jet actuation is effective for driving soft micro hands.
AB - An electro-conjugate fluid (ECF) is a type of dielectric and functional fluid that generates a powerful jet flow when subjected to high DC voltage. Although a high voltage is needed to generate the jet flow, the current is quite low at several microamperes, resulting in a total power consumption of several milliwatts. Using this smart fluid, we can develop micro fluid-driven mechanical components without any bulky pumps. Also, it is clarified that the power density of the ECF jet is higher when the electrode pair is miniaturized; therefore, it is suitable for micro actuators. Here, we propose and fabricate three types of soft actuators with an antagonistic configuration: (i) micro artificial muscle cells, (ii) a McKibben-type micro artificial muscle actuator using the ECF effect and (iii) a micro finger actuator with two chambers to bend. The actuators basically consist of a silicone rubber tube covered with a fiber sleeve and a micro pressure source using the ECF effect. Next, we apply and integrate these actuators into a micro robot hand, driven with ECF jets. The driving characteristics of the micro artificial muscle actuator and the integrated micro ECF hand with ECF fingers were fabricated and experimentally investigated. The experimental results show that this ECF jet actuation is effective for driving soft micro hands.
KW - antagonistic
KW - electro-conjugate fluid jet
KW - functional fluid
KW - Robot hand
KW - soft actuator
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=78149329141&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=78149329141&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1163/016918610X529048
DO - 10.1163/016918610X529048
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:78149329141
VL - 24
SP - 1929
EP - 1943
JO - Advanced Robotics
JF - Advanced Robotics
SN - 0169-1864
IS - 14
ER -