Design and Characterization of Electrically Driven-Bioinspired Soft Actuator based on Silicon- Ethanol Composite

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

• amirhossein ebrahimi ¹
• hojat zamyad ²
• Javad safaie ²
• Samane Sahebian ³

¹ Department of materials and metallurgy engineering, Ferdowsi university of Mashhad, Mashhad,Iran

² Department of Electronic Engineering, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, iran

³ Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran.

10.22067/jmme.2021.69610.1010

Abstract

Manufacturing soft robots to mimic the natural movements of living organisms by controllable external stimuli required actuation systems like pneumatic, hydraulic, electrical, magnetic, and memory actuators. Inspired by natural muscles, a fast-responsive soft robot was fabricated by a polymer composite with a phase-change fluid as a secondary phase. The synthesis actuator can displace up to 25% (normal muscle tension), with a power equivalent to 12W. The microstructural observations show that the second phase is homogeneously distributed within microcapsules of less than 20 µm in size across the matrix. The stability of the internal temperature of the actuator in the range of 60-70°C during successive excitation cycles and the ability to achieve the desired amount of displacement allows the use of this soft robot in many areas.

Keywords

• soft robot
• artificial muscle
• phase change fluid
• silicon
• ethanol

Main Subjects

• Biomaterials

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