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Design and fabrication of twisted monolithic dielectric elastomer actuator

  • Special Issue: Soft Robotics
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Abstract

This paper presents a novel design of dielectric elastomer actuator (DEA), called single body dielectric elastomer actuator (SDEA), to improve the performance of existing DEAs. The DEA is typically configured with stacking multiple dielectric elastomer film and linearly contracted according to the applied voltage. SDEA is fabricated monolithically without external frame and has the advantages of flexibility and light weight. Thus, it is applicable to various configurations of actuators such as twisting or bending, etc. By exploiting the advantages of SDEA, we propose a new 2-ply design of SDEA. The design is configured with plying couples of monolithically fabricated SDEA. We explain how it can amplify the stroke with its basic principles of operations. In addition, its fabrication method is addressed. Finally, the results of performance evaluations are included with respect to stroke, force, speed, etc.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Mechanical Engineering, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon, Korea

    Ho Sang Jung, Sang Yul Yang, Kyeong Ho Cho, Min Geun Song, Canh Toan Nguyen, Hoa Phung, Uikyum Kim, Hyungpil Moon, Ja Choon Koo & Hyouk Ryeol Choi

  2. Department of Polymer System Engineering, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon, Korea

    Jae-Do Nam

Authors
  1. Ho Sang Jung
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  2. Sang Yul Yang
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  3. Kyeong Ho Cho
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  4. Min Geun Song
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  5. Canh Toan Nguyen
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  6. Hoa Phung
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  7. Uikyum Kim
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  8. Hyungpil Moon
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  9. Ja Choon Koo
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  10. Jae-Do Nam
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  11. Hyouk Ryeol Choi
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Hyouk Ryeol Choi.

Additional information

Recommended by Guest Editor Sungwan Kim. This research was supported by the convergence technology development program for bionic arm through the National Research Foundation of Korea(NRF) funded by the Ministry of Science, ICT & Future Planning (No. 2014M3C1B2048175).

Ho Sang Jung received the B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering from Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon, Korea, in 2013, where he is currently pursuing the Ph.D. degree with the School of Mechanical Engineering. He has been with the Intelligent Robotics and Mechatronics System Laboratory, Sungkyunkwan University, since 2011. His research interests include soft robotics, artificial muscle actuator, and tactile sensor.

Sang Yul Yang received the B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering from Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon, Korea, in 2016, where He is currently pursuing the Ph.D. degree mechanical engineering. He has researched in the Intelligent Robotics and Mechatronics System Laboratory, Sungkyunkwan University, since 2015. His interests include the development of processing techniques for artificial muscle, soft actuator, soft sensor.

Kyeong Ho Cho received the B.S. degree in Bio-industrial Engineering from Konkuk University, Chungju, Korea, in 2011, and the M.S. degree in Mechatronics from Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon, Korea, in 2013, where he is currently pursuing the Ph.D. degree with the School of Mechanical Engineering. He has been with Intelligent Robotics and Mechatronic System Laboratory, Sungkyunkwan University, since 2011. His current research interests include soft actuator, climbing robot, mechanical design, and mechatronics.

Min Geun Song received the B.S. degree in Mechatronics Engineering in 2015 from Korea Polytechnic University. he is currently pursuing the master degree with the School of Mechanical Engineering from Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon, Korea. He has been with the Intelligent Robotics and Mechatronics System laboratory, Sungkyunkwan University, since 2015. His research interests are in the areas of soft robotics, artificial muscle, and digital control.

Canh Toan Nguyen received the B.S. degree in Mechatronic Engineering from Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, in 2010. He is currently pursuing the Ph.D. degree in Mechanical Engineering at Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon, Korea and has been in the Intelligent Robotics and Mechatronics System Laboratory since 2010. His current research interests include soft robotics, artificial muscle actuator, dielectric elastomer and tactile display.

Hoa Phung received the B.S. degree in industrial informatics engineering from Da Nang University of Technology, Da Nang, Vietnam, in 2012. He is currently working toward the Ph.D. degree in mechanical engineering in the Intelligent Robotics and Mechatronic System Laboratory (IRMS Lab), Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon, Korea. His current research interests include dielectric elastomer actuators, tactile sensor and haptic interfaces.

Uikyum Kim received the B.S. degree in mechanical engineering from Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon, Korea, in 2011, where he is currently working toward the Ph.D. degree with the School of Mechanical Engineering. He has been with Intelligent Robotics andMechatronic System Laboratory, Sungkyunkwan University, since 2011. His research interests include surgical robotics, force sensing system, haptic interfaces, and computing algorithms for robot applications.

Hyungpil Moon Received his B.S. and M.S. degrees in mechanical engineering from Pohang Science and Technology Institute in 1998, and obtained his Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. He is working as an associate Professor in the department of mechanical engineering at Sungkyunkwan University. His current research topics are robotic manipulation, robot hands, SLAM, hydraulic robots and polymer-based sensors and actuators.

Ja Choon Koo Received his B.S. degree from Hanyang University, Seoul, Korea, in 1989, and his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Texas, Austin, in 1992 and 1997, respectively. He was the Advisory Engineer of International Machines Corporation (IBM), San Jose, CA, and a Staff Engineer of Samsung Information Systems America, San Jose, CA. He is currently a Professor in the School of Mechanical Engineering, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon, Korea. His current research interests include design, analysis and control of dynamic systems, robotics, sensors and actuators.

Jae-Do Nam received the B.S. and M.S. degrees in chemical engineering from Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea, in 1994 and 1986, respectively, and the Ph.D. degree in chemical engineering from the University of Washington, Seattle, in 1991. From 1991 to 1993, he was a Research Associate in the Polymeric Composites Laboratory, University of Washington. During 19931994, he was with Jeil Synthetic Fiber Company, Samsung Group. Since 1994, he has been with Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon, Korea, where he is currently a Professor in the Department of Polymer Science and Engineering. His current research interests include polymer sensors and actuators, organic/inorganic nanocomposites, and biodegradable polymers and composites, and nanoparticles and nanoporous structure.

Hyouk Ryeol Choi received the B.S. degree from Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea; the M.S. degree from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon, Korea; and the Ph.D. degree from Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), Pohang, Korea, in 1984, 1986, and 1994, respectively, all in mechanical engineering. From 1986 to 1989, he was an Associate Research Engineer with IT Research Center, LG electronics. From 1993 to 1995, he was a Postdoctoral Researcher with Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan. From 1999 to 2000, he was a JSPS Fellow with the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Japan. From 2008 to 2009, he was a Visiting Professor with University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA. Since 1995, he has been a Full Professor with the School of Mechanical Engineering, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon, Korea. His research interests include soft robotics, robotic mechanism, field applications of robots, dextrous robotic hand, and manipulation. Dr. Choi is an Editor of International Journal of Control, Automation and Systems, and an Associate Editor of IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics and Journal of Intelligent Service Robotics. He serves as a co-Chair of the IEEE RAS technical committee Robot Hand, Grasping andManipulation. He was the General Chair of 2012 IEEE Conference on Automation Science and Engineering, Seoul.

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Jung, H.S., Yang, S.Y., Cho, K.H. et al. Design and fabrication of twisted monolithic dielectric elastomer actuator. Int. J. Control Autom. Syst. 15, 25–35 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12555-016-0466-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12555-016-0466-z

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