Hydraulically amplified self-healing electrostatic actuators with muscle-like performance

Existing soft actuators have persistent challenges that restrain the potential of soft robotics, highlighting a need for soft transducers that are powerful, high-speed, efficient, and robust. We describe a class of soft actuators, termed hydraulically amplified self-healing electrostatic (HASEL) act...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) 2018-01, Vol.359 (6371), p.61-65
Main Authors: Acome, E, Mitchell, S K, Morrissey, T G, Emmett, M B, Benjamin, C, King, M, Radakovitz, M, Keplinger, C
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Actuation
Actuators
Aging
Arm
Automation
Catastrophic events
Dielectric breakdown
Dielectric strength
Elastomers
Electrostatic properties
Fabrication
Hydraulics
Industrial robots
Manufacturing engineering
Materials handling
Muscles
Object recognition
Robot arms
Transducers
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Summary:Existing soft actuators have persistent challenges that restrain the potential of soft robotics, highlighting a need for soft transducers that are powerful, high-speed, efficient, and robust. We describe a class of soft actuators, termed hydraulically amplified self-healing electrostatic (HASEL) actuators, which harness a mechanism that couples electrostatic and hydraulic forces to achieve a variety of actuation modes. We introduce prototypical designs of HASEL actuators and demonstrate their robust, muscle-like performance as well as their ability to repeatedly self-heal after dielectric breakdown-all using widely available materials and common fabrication techniques. A soft gripper handling delicate objects and a self-sensing artificial muscle powering a robotic arm illustrate the wide potential of HASEL actuators for next-generation soft robotic devices.
ISSN:0036-8075
1095-9203
DOI:10.1126/science.aao6139