Electromechanical characterization of a new synthetic rubber membrane for dielectric elastomer transducers

Dielectric Elastomers (DE) are incompressible polymeric solids that experience finite elastic deformations and are electrically non-conductive. Stacking multiple DE films separated by compliant electrodes makes a deformable capacitor transducer, namely a DE Transducer (DET), which can expand in area while shrinking in thickness and vice versa. DETs can be used as solid-state actuators, sensors and generators. The development of an effective DET requires the accurate knowledge of the constitutive behavior of the employed DE material. In this context, this paper reports the experimental results of the electromechanical characterization of a new synthetic rubber membrane (TheraBanTM Latex Free Resistance Band Yellow (P/N #11726), or TheraBand LFRB-Y in short) to be used as elastic dielectric in DETs. Comparison of the obtained results with those of the best quoted Natural Rubber membrane (OPPO BAND 8003) is also provided that shows the superior performances of TheraBand LFRB-Y both in terms of reduced mechanical hysteresis and of higher dielectric strength stability to ambient wetness conditions

Electro/Magneto-Sensitive Elastomers and Lagrangian Electro/Magneto-Statics

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Design and Control of the Rehab-Exos, a Joint Torque-Controlled Upper Limb Exoskeleton †

This work presents the design of the Rehab-Exos, a novel upper limb exoskeleton designed for rehabilitation purposes. It is equipped with high-reduction-ratio actuators and compact elastic joints to obtain torque sensors based on strain gauges. In this study, we address the torque sensor performances and the design aspects that could cause unwanted non-axial moment load crosstalk. Moreover, a new full-state feedback torque controller is designed by modeling the multi-DOF, non-linear system dynamics and providing compensation for non-linear effects such as friction and gravity. To assess the proposed upper limb exoskeleton in terms of both control system performances and mechanical structure validation, the full-state feedback controller was compared with two other benchmark-state feedback controllers in both a transparency test—ten subjects, two reference speeds—and a haptic rendering evaluation. Both of the experiments were representative of the intended purpose of the device, i.e., physical interaction with patients affected by limited motion skills. In all experimental conditions, our proposed joint torque controller achieved higher performances, providing transparency to the joints and asserting the feasibility of the exoskeleton for assistive applications

Assessing the Relationships between Interdigital Geometry Quality and Inkjet Printing Parameters

Drop on demand (DoD) inkjet printing is a high precision, non-contact, and maskless additive manufacturing technique employed in producing high-precision micrometer-scaled geometries allowing free design manufacturing for flexible devices and printed electronics. A lot of studies exist regarding the ink droplet delivery from the nozzle to the substrate and the jet fluid dynamics, but the literature lacks systematic approaches dealing with the relationship between process parameters and geometrical outcome. This study investigates the influence of the main printing parameters (namely, the spacing between subsequent drops deposited on the substrate, the printing speed, and the nozzle temperature) on the accuracy of a representative geometry consisting of two interdigitated comb-shape electrodes. The study objective was achieved thanks to a proper experimental campaign developed according to Design of Experiments (DoE) methodology. The printing process performance was evaluated by suitable geometrical quantities extracted from the acquired images of the printed samples using a MATLAB algorithm. A drop spacing of 140 µm and 170 µm on the two main directions of the printing plane, with a nozzle temperature of 35◦C, resulted as the most appropriate parameter combination for printing the target geometry. No significant influence of the printing speed on the process outcomes was found, thus choosing the highest speed value within the investigated range can increase productivity

Compliant actuation based on dielectric elastomers for a force-feedback device: modeling and experimental evaluation

Thanks to their large power densities, low costs and shock-insensitivity, Dielectric Elastomers (DE)seem to be a promising technology for the implementation of light and compact force-feedback devices such as,for instance, haptic interfaces. Nonetheless, the development of these kinds of DE-based systems is not trivialowing to the relevant dissipative phenomena that affect the DE when subjected to rapidly changingdeformations. In this context, the present paper addresses the development of a force feedback controller foran agonist-antagonist linear actuator composed of a couple of conically-shaped DE films and a compliantmechanism behaving as a negative-rate bias spring. The actuator is firstly modeled accounting for the viscohyperelasticnature of the DE material. The model is then linearized and employed for the design of a forcecontroller. The controller employs a position sensor, which determines the actuator configuration, and a forcesensor, which measures the interaction force that the actuator exchanges with the environment. In addition, anoptimum full-state observer is also implemented, which enables both accurate estimation of the time-dependentbehavior of the elastomeric material and adequate suppression of the sensor measurement noise. Preliminaryexperimental results are provided to validate the proposed actuator-controller architectur

An Affordable Upper-Limb Exoskeleton Concept for Rehabilitation Applications

In recent decades, many researchers have focused on the design and development of exoskeletons. Several strategies have been proposed to develop increasingly more efficient and biomimetic mechanisms. However, existing exoskeletons tend to be expensive and only available for a few people. This paper introduces a new gravity-balanced upper-limb exoskeleton suited for rehabilitation applications and designed with the main objective of reducing the cost of the components and materials. Regarding mechanics, the proposed design significantly reduces the motor torque requirements, because a high cost is usually associated with high-torque actuation. Regarding the electronics, we aim to exploit the microprocessor peripherals to obtain parallel and real-time execution of communication and control tasks without relying on expensive RTOSs. Regarding sensing, we avoid the use of expensive force sensors. Advanced control and rehabilitation features are implemented, and an intuitive user interface is developed. To experimentally validate the functionality of the proposed exoskeleton, a rehabilitation exercise in the form of a pick-and-place task is considered. Experimentally, peak torques are reduced by 89% for the shoulder and by 84% for the elbow

Smart actuation for helicopter rotorblades

Successful rotorcrafts were only achieved when the differences between hovering flight conditions and a stable forward flight were understood. During hovering, the air speed on all helicopter blades is linearly distributed along each blade and is the same for each. However, during forward flight, the forward motion of the helicopter in the air creates an unbalance. The airspeed is increased for the blade passing in the advancing side of the helicopter, while it is reduced in the retreating side. Moreover, when each blade enters the retreating side of the helicopter, a reverse flow occurs around the profile where the blade speed is lower than the forward speed of the helicopter. The balance of a rotorcraft is solved by a cyclic pitch control, but trade-offs are made on the blade design to cope with the great variety of aerodynamic conditions. A smart blade that would adapt its characteristics to this large set of conditions would improve rotorcrafts energy efficiency while providing vibration and noise control.\ud Smart rotor blades systems are studied to adapt the aerodynamic characteristics of the blade during its revolution and to improve the overall performances. An increase in the lift over drag ratio on the retreating side has been studied to design a blade with better aerodynamic efficiency and better stall performances in the low-speed region. The maximum speed of a rotorcraft is limited by the angle of attack that the profile can sustain on the retreating side before stall. Therefore, increasing the maximum angle of attack that a profile geometry can sustain increases the rotorcraft flight envelope. Flow asymmetry and aerodynamic interaction between successive blades are also investigated to actively reduce vibrations and limit noise.\ud These improvements can be achieved by deploying flaps, by using flow control devices or by morphing the full shape of the profile at a specific places during the blade revolution. Each of the listed methods has advantages and disadvantages as well as various degrees of feasibility and integrability inside helicopter blades. They all modify the aerodynamic characteristics of the profile. Their leverage on the various aerodynamic effects depends on the control strategy chosen for actuation. Harmonic actuation is therefore studied for active noise and vibration control whereas stepped deployment is foreseen to modify the stall behaviour of the retreating side of the helicopter.\ud Helicopter blades are subjected to various force constraints such as the loads from the complex airflow and the centrifugal forces. Furthermore, any active system embedded inside a rotor blade needs to comply with the environmental constraints to which a helicopter will be subjected  during its life-span. Other concerns, like the power consumption and the data transfer for blade control, play an important role as well. Finally, such a system must have a life-time exceeding the life-time of a rotor blade and meet the same criteria in toughness, reliability and ease of maintenance.\ud Smart system is an interplay of aerodynamics, rotor-mechanics, material science and control, thus a multidisciplinary approach is essential. A large part of the work consists in building processes to integrate these domains for investigating, designing and testing smart components.\ud Piezoelectric actuators are a promising technology to bring adaptability to rotor blades. They can be used directly on the structure to actively modify its geometry, stiffness and aerodynamic behaviour or be integrated to mechanisms for the deployment of flaps. Their large specific work, toughness, reliability and small form factor make them suitable components for integration within a rotor blade. The main disadvantage of piezoelectric actuators is the small displacement and strain available. Amplification mechanisms must be optimised to produce sufficient displacement in morphing applications.\ud Smart actuation systems placed inside rotor blades have the potential to improve the efficiency and the performances of tomorrow's helicopters. Piezoelectric materials can address many of the challenges of integrating smart components inside helicopter blades. The key aspect remains the collaboration between various domains, skills and expertise to successfully implement these new technologies

Adhesion State Estimation for Electrostatic Gripper Based on Online Capacitance Measure

Electroadhesion is a suitable technology for developing grippers for applications where fragile, compliant or variable shape objects need to be grabbed and where a retention action is typically preferred to a compression force. This article presents a self-sensing technique for electroadhesive devices (EAD) based on the capacitance measure. Specifically, we demonstrate that measuring the variation of the capacitance between electrodes of an EAD during the adhesion can provide useful information to automatically detect the successful grip of an object and the possible loss of adhesion during manipulation. To this aim, a dedicated electronic circuit is developed that is able to measure capacitance variations while the high voltage required for the adhesion is activated. A test bench characterization is presented to evaluate the self-sensing of capacitance during different states: (1) the EAD is far away from the object to be grasped; (2) the EAD is in contact with the object, but the voltage is not active (i.e., no adhesion); and (3) the EAD is activated and attached to the object. Correlation between the applied voltage, object material and shape and capacitance is made. The self-sensing EAD is then demonstrated in a closed-loop robotic application that employs a robot manipulator arm to pick and place objects of different kinds