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Toward broad optimal output bandwidth dielectric elastomer actuators

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Abstract

Dielectric elastomer actuators (DEAs) are one of the most promising soft actuation technologies owing to their relatively high power density and electromechanical efficiency enabled by a resonant actuation technique. However, existing DEA designs suffer from a very narrow optimal output bandwidth close to resonance and poor output control capability due to their fixed geometrical configurations. This condition greatly limits their applications in programmable actuation and broad-bandwidth applications. Accordingly, this work developed a novel resonance tunable DEA (RTDEA) design for broad-optimal-output actuation bandwidths that is enabled by an integration of a stiffness and voltage control strategy. This design features a broad resonant frequency adjustment from 84 to 126 Hz and independent tunings of its resonant amplitude and frequency. Parametric studies were conducted to illustrate the fundamental principles behind the resonance tuning strategy, and optimization was performed to maximize the tuning capability. Here, a resonance tuning control strategy is proposed to achieve accurate adjustments of the RTDEA’s resonance based on the stiffness and voltage control strategy. These resonance tunable soft actuators are envisioned to greatly expand DEAs’ applications in, for instance, soft robotic locomotion, human—robot communication, and active vibrational control with demands of broad actuation bandwidths and high output performance.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Research Centre for Medical Robotics and Minimally Invasive Surgical Devices, Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology (SIAT), Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen, 518055, China

    ChongJing Cao, LiJin Chen, ZeDong Nie, Lei Wang & Xing Gao

  2. Shaanxi Key Laboratory of Intelligent Robots, School of Mechanical Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, 710049, China

    Bo Li & GuiMin Chen

Authors
  1. ChongJing Cao
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  2. LiJin Chen
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  3. Bo Li
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  4. GuiMin Chen
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  5. ZeDong Nie
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  6. Lei Wang
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  7. Xing Gao
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Xing Gao.

Additional information

This work was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (Grant No. 2019YFB1311600), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 62003333), the Shenzhen Fundamental Research Project (Grant No. JCYJ20200109115639654), the Guangdong Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation (Grant No. 2020A1515110175), and the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (Grant No. 2020M682978).

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The supporting information is available online at tech.scichina.com and link.springer.com. The supporting materials are published as submitted, without typesetting or editing. The responsibility for scientific accuracy and content remains entirely with the authors.

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Cao, C., Chen, L., Li, B. et al. Toward broad optimal output bandwidth dielectric elastomer actuators. Sci. China Technol. Sci. 65, 1137–1148 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11431-021-2014-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11431-021-2014-x

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