HASEL Actuator Design for Out-of-Plane Bending: A Parametric Study of Planar Geometry

Abstract

Soft robotic systems are promising for a wide range of applications from locomotion to manipulation. In particular, fluidic dielectric elastomer actuators, such as Hydraulically Amplified Self-healing ELectrostatic (HASEL) actuators, demonstrate several compelling properties when compared to other soft robotic actuators such as lower power consumption, faster response times, and self-sensing capabilities. Current HASEL actuator research has thoroughly characterized linear HASEL actuators, but there is a lack of geometric characterization for bending HASEL actuators. This paper addresses this gap through the characterization of two important design parameters that affect out-of-plane bending of planar HASEL actuator designs. In particular, a sinusoidal wave pattern is parameterized by the period length and the minimum channel width. The ratio of the period length to channel width is shown to be a good predictor for the curvature of the HASEL actuators when bending out-of-plane. The experimentally derived relationship is then used to demonstrate different grasp types for various objects.

This project was completed as a collaboration between the Evolution and Motion of Biology and Robotics (EMBiR) Lab and the Robotics and Optimization for Analysis of Human Motion (ROAHM) Lab at University of Michigan - Ann Arbor.

@article{brei2024HASEL,

author={Brei, Zachary and Lim, Chae Woo and Ferguson, Annie and Pradhan, Anvay A. and Sangeetha, Varshni Vinayagam and Bu, Xiangyun and Usui, Brent and Johnson, Daniel B. and Vasudevan, Ram and Moore, Talia Y.},

journal={IEEE RoboSoft 2024},

title={HASEL Actuator Design for Out-of-Plane Bending: A Parametric Study of Planar Geometry},

year={2024},

keywords={Soft Sensors and Actuators; Soft Robot Materials and Design; Soft Robot Applications}

doi={[forthcoming]}

}