TY - JOUR
T1 - A bio-inspired robot using electro-conjugate fluid
AU - Tokida, Kenichiro
AU - Yamaguchi, Akihiro
AU - Takemura, Kenjiro
AU - Yokota, Shinichi
AU - Edamura, Kazuya
PY - 2013/1/1
Y1 - 2013/1/1
N2 - Electro-Conjugate Fluid (ECF) is a kind of functional fluid that produces a jet flow (ECF jet) when subjected to high DC voltage. A strong ECF jet is known to be generated in a nonuniform electric field, for example, a field with a pair of needle and ring electrodes. This study introduces the ECF jet in developing a novel bio-inspired robot. We first propose the concept of a robot driven by an ECF jet. The robot is mainly composed of ECF jet generators (a micro fluid pressure source), fiber-reinforced rubber actuators, a built-in spring actuator, and an ECF tank. We next investigate the characteristics of the ECF jet generator, the fiber reinforced rubber actuator, and the built-in spring actuator. As a result, we confirmed that the maximum pressure and flow rate of the ECF jet generator are 32.0 kPa and 27.0 ml/min, respectively, and that the actuators could be driven by the ECF jet. We then developed a bio-inspired robot and demonstrated that the robot could move in a 14 mm diameter acrylic half pipe with 0.6 mm/s, and in a 14 mm diameter acrylic pipe with 0.5 mm/s. The robot is 300 mm long with a mass of 26 g.
AB - Electro-Conjugate Fluid (ECF) is a kind of functional fluid that produces a jet flow (ECF jet) when subjected to high DC voltage. A strong ECF jet is known to be generated in a nonuniform electric field, for example, a field with a pair of needle and ring electrodes. This study introduces the ECF jet in developing a novel bio-inspired robot. We first propose the concept of a robot driven by an ECF jet. The robot is mainly composed of ECF jet generators (a micro fluid pressure source), fiber-reinforced rubber actuators, a built-in spring actuator, and an ECF tank. We next investigate the characteristics of the ECF jet generator, the fiber reinforced rubber actuator, and the built-in spring actuator. As a result, we confirmed that the maximum pressure and flow rate of the ECF jet generator are 32.0 kPa and 27.0 ml/min, respectively, and that the actuators could be driven by the ECF jet. We then developed a bio-inspired robot and demonstrated that the robot could move in a 14 mm diameter acrylic half pipe with 0.6 mm/s, and in a 14 mm diameter acrylic pipe with 0.5 mm/s. The robot is 300 mm long with a mass of 26 g.
KW - Bio-inspired robot
KW - Electro-conjugate fluid
KW - Functional fluid
KW - Soft actuator
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U2 - 10.20965/jrm.2013.p0016
DO - 10.20965/jrm.2013.p0016
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84874062667
VL - 25
SP - 16
EP - 24
JO - Journal of Robotics and Mechatronics
JF - Journal of Robotics and Mechatronics
SN - 0915-3942
IS - 1
ER -