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Multi-functional dielectric elastomer artificial muscles for soft and smart machines
Iain A. Anderson, Todd A. Gisby, Thomas G. McKay, Benjamin M. OBrien, and Emilio P. Calius Citation: J. Appl. Phys. 112, 041101 (2012); doi: 10.1063/1.4740023 View online: http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4740023 View Table of Contents: http://jap.aip.org/resource/1/JAPIAU/v112/i4 Published by the American Institute of Physics.
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JOURNAL OF APPLIED PHYSICS 112, 041101 (2012)
APPLIED PHYSICS REVIEWSFOCUSED REVIEW
Multi-functional dielectric elastomer artificial muscles for soft and smart machines
Iain A. Anderson,1,2,a) Todd A. Gisby,1 Thomas G. McKay,1 Benjamin M. OBrien,1 and Emilio P. Calius1,3
Biomimetics Laboratory, Auckland Bioengineering Institute, The University of Auckland, Level 6, 70 Symonds St., Auckland, New Zealand 2 Department of Engineering Science, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand 3 Medical Device Technology Group, Industrial Research Limited, 24 Balfour Road, Auckland, New Zealand
1
(Received 13 February 2012; accepted 29 May 2012; published online 28 August 2012) Dielectric elastomer (DE) actuators are popularly referred to as articial muscles because their impressive actuation strain and speed, low density, compliant nature, and silent operation capture many of the desirable physical properties of muscle. Unlike conventional robots and machines, whose mechanisms and drive systems rapidly become very complex as the number of degrees of freedom increases, groups of DE articial muscles have the potential to generate rich motions combining many translational and rotational degrees of freedom. These articial muscle systems can mimic the agonist-antagonist approach found in nature, so that active expansion of one articial muscle is taken up by passive contraction in the other. They can also vary their stiffness. In addition, they have the ability to produce electricity from movement. But departing from the high stiffness paradigm of electromagnetic motors and gearboxes leads to new control challenges, and for soft machines to be truly dexterous like their biological analogues, they need precise control. Humans control their limbs using sensory feedback from strain sensitive cells embedded in muscle. In DE actuators, deformation is inextricably linked to changes in electrical parameters that include capacitance and resistance, so the state of strain can be inferred by sensing these changes, enabling the closed loop control that is critical for a soft machine. But the increased information processing required for a soft machine can impose a substantial burden on a central controller. The natural solution is to distribute control within the mechanism itself. The octopus arm is an example of a soft actuator with a virtually innite number of degrees of freedom (DOF). The arm utilizes neural ganglia to process sensory data at the local arm level and perform complex tasks. Recent advances in soft electronics such as the piezoresistive dielectric elastomer switch (DES) have the potential to be fully integrated with actuators and sensors. With the DE switch, we can produce logic gates, oscillators, and a memory element, the building blocks for a soft computer, thus bringing us closer to emulating smart living structures like the octopus arm. The goal of future research is to develop fully soft machines that exploit smart actuation networks to gain capabilities C 2012 American formerly reserved to nature, and open new vistas in mechanical engineering. V Institute of Physics. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4740023]
TABLE OF CONTENTS I. INTRODUCTIONDIELECTRIC ELASTOMER (DE) BACKGROUND AND FUNDAMENTALS . II. MULTI-DEGREE-OF-FREEDOM DE ACTUATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . III. MECHANO-SENSITIVITY, CYBER-PROPRIOCEPTION, CYBER-PAIN, AND VARIABLE STIFFNESS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . IV. ENERGY HARVESTING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
a)
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V. MULTI-FUNCTIONAL SMART MUSCLE SYSTEMS WITH FULLY INTEGRATED CHARGE CONTROL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . VI. CONCLUDING REMARKS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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I. INTRODUCTIONDIELECTRIC ELASTOMER (DE) BACKGROUND AND FUNDAMENTALS
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Author to whom correspondence should be addressed. Electronic mail: i.anderson@auckland.ac.nz. Telephone: 64 9 3737599 ext 82465.
For most of human history, natural muscle has been the engineering actuator of choice. The combination of speed, strain, pressure, low density, and efciency that muscle possesses is unmatched by any man-made alternative.1 Muscle has powered our devices and provided the ne control
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required for them to function. Consider the subtle coordination required to paddle a kayak, open a jar, or play the violin. In addition to force and movement, muscle provides position and pain feedback, energy absorption, stiffness control, and reexes.2 Nerve cells known as muscle spindles sense length change and provide position feedback to the central nervous system.3 This strain sensing contributes to proprioception, the ability to know limb position, and is crucial to ne motor control and the coordination of different muscle groups necessary for maintaining correct balance and posture.3,4 Our nervous system also provides pain feedback, delivered through nociceptors, and sensory neurons that lie within the muscle.5 Pain is the signal that natural muscle provides when overstressed to warn us of potential tissue damage, or remind us to protect damaged tissue while it heals.6 It can trigger automatic reex actions, e.g., recoiling in response to pain from a sharp object. But from the dawn of the Industrial revolution, motor or engine driven devices composed of hard and dense materials have pushed natural muscle aside, triumphing over this smart, soft, low-density, and living protein polymer composite. This has been driven by the need to outperform muscle in specic performance metrics (e.g., speed or pressure), often requiring additional gearing and other linkages to perform adequately over a wide range of speeds and displacements; components also reduce portability and contribute to system mass. Soft muscle-like alternatives to conventional engineering mechanisms can greatly expand the engineering design space and enable new kinds of biomimetic machines. One such alternative is the pneumatic articial muscle that consists primarily of an inatable membrane,7 which can be congured for direct muscle-like contraction or much more complex motions. For instance, a fully soft pneumatic quadrupedal crawling robot8 has recently been developed that is capable of undulating and squeezing under as well as between or over obstacles. The robot, fabricated by a stereolithographic process is tethered to a controlled air supply. For soft actuation, there are alternatives to pneumatics. Desirable features, for emulating muscle, would include being electrically driven and, therefore, capable of providing a feedback signal for self-sensing and control. Amongst the articial muscle technologies listed in the review by Madden et al.,9 the dielectric elastomer is both polymeric and electric eld driven for fast and controllable shape change. It is multi-functional too and, as we will describe, can simultaneously be used for actuation, sensing, power generation, and logic networks. The ability for electric charge to instigate shape change in a solid dielectric was observed over two centuries ago in Leyden jars, the rst electrical capacitors, in an experiment mentioned in a 1776 letter from the Italian physicist Alessanontgen,11 disdro Volta.10 Over one hundred years later, R coverer of x-rays, demonstrated how charge, delivered by electric arc and sprayed onto natural rubber sheet, could result in thinning and lengthening of the sheet (Fig. 1). This experiment was recently repeated by Keplinger et al.,12 who showed how a stretched membrane dielectric could be compressed thin, and then wrinkle reversibly without catastrophic dielectric breakdown.
FIG. 1. A schematic from Keplinger et al.12 illustrating electrode-less actuation of a dielectric elastomer, an actuation mechanism pioneered by R ontgen.11 Needle combs spray high voltage charge onto the elastomer surface, and this results in thinning and lengthening of the elastomer. Uses for R ontgens electrode-free actuator could include micro-actuators for optical elements.12 Reprinted with permission from Ref. 12.
This static-charge actuation mechanism was advanced in the 1990s at SRI (Menlo Park, Cal.), where workers applied a stretchable conductor, to the surfaces of soft acrylics and silicone,13,14 materials with densities approximately the same as natural muscle (and water) but with elastic moduli 10100 times smaller.9 It became possible to rapidly and easily apply charge from a source such as a battery in a closely controlled way to the surfaces of a dielectric elastomer, resulting in a shape change, and when the charge was removed, the elastic energy stored in the dielectric returned it to its original shape. Thus, the electroded DE actuator was born (Fig. 2). DE actuation is due to surface electrostatics.13,14 The Maxwell pressure, calculated in Eq. (1) below and experimentally validated by a number of researchers, notably Pelrine,14 Kofod,16 and Wissler,17 has become the standard interpretation of electromechanical coupling for the DE actuator. In the equation, rMaxwell is the Maxwell pressure, eo and er are the absolute and relative dielectric permittivities, respectively, V is the voltage and d is the thickness of the membrane rMaxwell e0 er 2 V : d (1)
For a derivation of this expression and a comprehensive discussion of the underlying theory, the reader is referred to the paper by Suo: Theory of Dielectric Elastomers.18 Under Maxwell stresses, DE actuators can produce extremely high active linear strains over a hundred percent in magnitude.19
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FIG. 3. A schematic of an elastomer lm before pre-stretching (left) and after pre-stretching (right) (adapted from McKay25). For the DE membrane, the stress eld is perpendicular to the direction of the electric eld and free electrons can move more freely along the polymer chains. Kofod has suggested the following mechanism: The typical elastomer is composed of long chains of monomer, cross-linked at points hundreds of monomers apart. When the elastomer is stretched bi-axially, the chains are uncurled, forming a grid perpendicularly to the applied electric eld. This grid has a higher cross-section for collision with the charges that are accelerated by the electric eld. A high cross-section impedes the accelerating charges from gaining enough energy to start an avalanche, which would otherwise result in electric breakdown.16 FIG. 2. (a) DE actuation involves the response of a dielectric membrane material to having charge deposited on its free surfaces. Charges of opposite polarity draw the opposing surfaces together. Repulsion of like charges expands the dielectric surface area. (b) On the left, we have a pre-actuation expanding dot DE membrane actuator, composed of 3 M VHB4905. The circular blackened zone is the Nyogel carbon grease electrode. On the right, the area increases substantially on application of 3000 V. Reprinted with permission from Gisby et al.15
Utilizing a snap-through instability mechanism Keplinger et al. recently demonstrated an active area expansion strain of 1692% in an inated dielectric elastomer membrane.20 These high strains and other performance metrics that include energy density and actuation speed put DE at the front of electro-active actuation technologies.21 But DEs are also susceptible to characteristic failure modes that can limit their performance. The predominant failure mode is dielectric breakdown, characterized by electrical short circuiting through the membrane. Breakdown starts when charge leaks across the dielectric, generating
heat that can damage the dielectric. In thermal runaway heating further increases local conductivity leading to greater charge leakage and temperature rise. This culminates in a short circuit and permanent damage to the membrane.22,23 Breakdown will typically occur around a defect or aw in the elastomer. Thus, great care must be taken in the fabrication and handling of membrane materials to avoid damaging them or introducing contaminants during the curing process. Dielectric breakdown is typically very localized and need not compromise the strength of the membrane; but a pinhole sized short-circuit can preclude it from further use in an actuator. Several strategies can be employed to mitigate or avoid breakdown. One solution is to use an electrode material that can self-clear so that it burns away from the breakdown site, eliminating the short-circuit. Electrode materials with this property include carbon nanotube lms and conducting polymer lms. The reader is directed to Brochu and Pei21 for a comprehensive review of self-clearing electrodes.
FIG. 4. (a) EMPA robot at EAP-In-Action, San Diego, 2005, described by Kovacs et al.35 (b) Schematic of a spring roll actuator. These were arranged into two antagonistic groups and placed in the torso-sized volume. Although unable to match the human competitor, the system was capable of returning to the starting position, as required for the competition. Reprinted with permission from Ref. 35.
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The dielectric breakdown strength for some dielectric materials can also be boosted through pre-straining the membrane. For instance, the dielectric strength of 3 M VHB4910 acrylic, as measured by Kofod, was boosted over ten fold (17 MV/m to 270 MV/m) with up to 500% equibiaxial stretch.16 Kornbluh et al. have performed similar experiments and achieved a peak breakdown strength of 412 MV/m for VHB 4910 with 300% equibiaxial stretch.24 While it is not clear how breakdown strength is boosted, it has been suggested that the increase is related to stretch-induced structural alignment in the polymer chains that serves to inhibit the ow of charge across the membrane (Fig. 3).16 DE are also susceptible to an electro-mechanical instability called pull-in.14,26,27 The Maxwell stress on the polymer surface is proportional to the square of the electric eld (V/d in Eq. (1)). For the same voltage, the electric eld will grow as the elastomer becomes thinner, and so will the Maxwell stress. Under certain circumstances, the Maxwell stress
will grow faster than the resisting elastic stress, and this can lead to a drop in thickness that is manifested by complex wrinkling patterns in the membrane26 and that could also lead to catastrophic breakdown failure of the DE.14,26 Polymers used for DE are characterized by a non-linear hyperelastic stress-strain curve,28 and pre-straining the polymer is benecial for improving resistance to pull-in. The advantages of pre-strain have been demonstrated experimentally26 and theoretically.27 Materials such as VHB 4910 or 4905 also exhibit visco-elastic stiffening at high strain rates so that at fast or high frequency actuation the visco-elastic DE is more resistant to pull-in instability,26 as demonstrated by Plante and Dubowsky using the 3 M VHB acrylic polymer. Pull-in instability can potentially be avoided through design. Zhao and Suo29 have described a material design that could theoretically reach large deformations without pull-in. This design is characterized by a high compliance at low strains and a substantial stiffening at higher stretches; potentially resulting in a material capable of very large and safe (beyond 100%) deformations. Keeping active strains and electric eld low are benecial for good reliability over many cycles.30 By taking care to minimize stress concentration factors Kornbluh et al.30 have observed millions of cycles of operation for acrylic based DE with active areal strains up to 40%. With appropriate protective coatings to protect the DE, they were able to operate DE underwater. High reliability silicone based DE with active strains that are limited to 10% or less and capable of millions of cycles of operation are a commercial reality.31 Silicone based DE actuators developed by Articial Muscle Incorporated produce haptic sensations for the Mophie Pulse (Mophie, Paw Paw Mi., USA) video game device that has passed CE and FCC certication.32 Routine use of DE at much higher strains and electric elds without compromising reliability might also be possible through condition monitoring by self-sensing of electrical parameters.33 The practicality of doing this will be discussed further in Sec. III. DEs offer a potentially reliable and low mass musclelike electro-active technology. But to be useful, DE must be part of a mechanism, just as the muscles in our arm are part of a system that includes tendon, ligaments, and bone and that is also capable of multi-degree of freedom motion. In Sec. II, we consider how DE can be congured for multifreedom actuation.
II. MULTI-DEGREE-OF-FREEDOM DE ACTUATION
FIG. 5. (a) Schematic of spring roll design from Pei et al.,38 depicting (top left) a roll actuator that consists of two end caps and a compression spring covered by layers of electro-active polymer. On the right, the authors show a pattern on the polymer for a multi-freedom roll; each layer consisting of two layers with electrode on one side. The layers are combined to produce the sheet on the right that is wrapped concentrically about the coil-bound spring. The image at the bottom shows a schematic view of the assembly during wrapping of a multi degree-of-freedom actuator. (b) A photo of a spring roll walking robot with 2 degree-of-freedom actuators. Images reprinted with permission from Ref. 38.
Animal skeletal muscles produce force and motion through uniaxial contraction. Groups of muscles operating antagonistically together with ball and socket limb geometry enable multi-freedom movement. Consider the glenohumeral (shoulder) joint. The muscles that attach between the scapula and the humerus of the upper arm can move the joint in three degrees of freedom (bending in two directions and rotation). Co-contraction of opposing muscle groups across the joint maintain muscle tension, thus stiffening it to ensure accurate control with smooth and steady muscle operation; necessary for activities such as violin bowing. And properly controlled
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this conguration can enable the violin virtuoso to truly show-off, providing that the instrument is also good. DE actuators can be placed in an antagonistic conguration mimicking the mechanisms of living structures such as the eyeball34 or limb. As an example of the latter, consider the arm-wrestling robot developed by workers at EMPA, the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology;35 one of three entered in the rst human-robotic arm-wrestling competition for the 2005 SPIE Electro-active Polymers and Devices Conference (Fig. 4).36 Although the device did not resemble a human arm, its internal actuators mimicked the agonist-antagonist arrangement of muscle around a joint using two opposing banks linked to each other across a pulley enabling the robot to both wrestle and return to the starting point, a requirement of the competition.35 The actuators hidden inside a box of the volume of a human torso were of the spring roll type developed by Pei et al.37 Spring rolls are composed principally of layers of carbon electroded acrylic elastomer lm rolled over a precompressed helical spring that provides support for the pre-stretched lm as well as a passive antagonistic structure for the lm to work against. Spring rolls will lengthen on actuation of the DE lm as it compresses in thickness and expands axially and circumferentially. Also, by electrically partitioning the DE into two 180 or four 90 separately actuated sectors, it can become a multi-degree-of-freedom actuator that can, in addition to moving axially, bend about one or two axes, respectively.37,38 Pei et al. were able to produce robots with spring roll legs that could change length and bend like the tube feet of starsh38 (Fig. 5).
Along with the other arm-wrestlers, the EMPA device lost the challenge and this was partly attributed to its inability to match the much swifter millisecond response time of the human. In addition, some of the actuators were damaged during transport from Switzerland to California. Nevertheless, it was a clear demonstration that articial muscle devices could not only be congured to emulate a natural skeletal mechanism but also deliver useful forces within a realistic torso-sized volume. Much of the mass and volume in a DE device is in the supporting structure. For instance, the DE polymer material within the EMPA robot took up only a small fraction ($5%) of the volume within the torso box. The additional bulk was due to space taken up by the springs, and other associated structures that would have also added substantial mass to the assembly. There are alternatives to the conventional spring. Pelrine et al. suggested how a negative rate spring (NRS) mechanism coupled to a DE actuator can enhance stroke.39 They illustrated this using a simple bi-stable over-arm mechanism linking an extension spring with a DE actuator. This was later explored by Hodgins et al.40 in an experimental and modeling study of a system for out-of-plane actuation. A frame that supports the DE membrane can also provide a tunable stiffness for the membrane to work against. Such a concept has been developed by Berselli et al.41 to produce a constant force over a range of displacement. A DE actuator can be directly used in the place of a passive spring as the antagonistic partner.14,31,4245 Pelrine et al.14 described a simple two phase micro-actuator consisting of a stretched lm with two antagonistic electroded areas
FIG. 6. (a) Inchworm robot segment (left) showing one of its ANTLA devices. Bending action (right) is depicted (Reprinted with permission from Choi et al.44). (b) Annelid worm robot segment (left) with its 6 actuators. Each buckled outwards on actuation. When all 6 were actuated the segment lengthened and sequential actuation of segments produced forward motion for the robot (Reprinted with permission from Jung et al.46).
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FIG. 7. Pivot roll bending actuator from Rosenthal and Pei.45 The roll depicted can bend through 270 . Reprinted with permission from Ref. 45.
that can displace an output terminal and suggested that such stretched lm actuators could nd use in sub-millimeter micro-electromechanical systems. A similar concept was developed by Choi et al.44 for millimeter scale robotics: the ANTagonistic Linear Actuator (ANTLA). The exible terminal, separating the two membranes, was used to impart force or movement, and this mechanism could actuate a multi-DOF robot that mimicked the inchworm, a creature that characteristically moves by bending its body in one plane. The robot was multi-segmented and within each segment a group of three ANTLA could rotate the structure in two directions or change its length (Fig. 6). The ANTLA mechanism also demonstrated DEs ability to alter compliance, mimicking natural muscle. For instance, applying the same voltage to both electroded sides released tension equally rendering the device more compliant without altering position of the output terminal. Choi et al. have developed and also demonstrated simple control rules for this actuator. When assembled into a 5 segment robot, it was capable of good force development (150 mN) for its weight (9.7 g). The membrane actuators also formed part of the surface skin of the robot, thus leaving a large hollow volume within for other uses. They also used DE actuators to mimic the multi-DOF crawling motion of segmented annelid worms, where each robot segment supports a group of multi-layer DE actuators that bulge outward under in-plane compression. By sequential actuation of segments, it is possible to produce a compressional wave of actuation that pushes the worm robot forward46 (Fig. 6(b)). The pivot roll is a multi-segmented robot developed by Rosenthal and Pei.45 The robot bends under direct actuation of DE that performs the dual role of skin and actuator; each segment consists of two circular disks upon which the stretched DE is mounted and that is supported by axially stiff skeletal segments. Multiple segments can be assembled into a robot that can bend through large angles (Fig. 7). In Sec. I, we cited Plante and Dubowsky on how fast strain actuation can improve DE reliability.26 It is also true that charge leaks away as a DE device is actuated, and therefore, holding position can cost energy. A bi-stable mechanism (Fig. 8(a)) that can snap between two equilibrium positions when pushed by opposing DE actuators can operate at high strain rates and hold position too without additional loss of charge. Plante47 has developed a multi-degree-offreedom manipulator built up from bi-stable active truss ele-
ments. Such a binary robot can assume 2n positions for n actuators (Fig. 8(b)). Bistability of the material itself could provide a useful mechanism for locking in electro-active strains. Yu et al.48 have demonstrated this using poly_tert-butyl acrylate (PTBA), a rigid polymer at ambient conditions that can be operated as a dielectric elastomer above a transition temperature. An inated, actuated membrane can have a large electro-active strain locked-in if cooled below its transition temperature before removing the electric eld. Such a mechanism could nd use in refreshable braille displays.48 Out-of-membrane plane actuation can also be achieved using antagonistic DE membrane assemblies. Articial Muscle Incorporateds Universal Muscle Actuator31 uses a disk that is held in tension between two antagonistic muscle membrane sets that are stretched into a concave conical shape. Actuation of one of the sets releases tension on the same side, and this causes the disk to displace towards the opposing side. Out of plane actuation has also been achieved by Choi and co-workers42 who produced a double convex conical membrane actuator within which a stiff central pin holds the two opposing membranes apart, like two tents placed base to base. The device could also be operated as a 5 degree of freedom actuator by selectively activating
FIG. 8. (a) Schematic illustrating a two DE ip-op bistable bi-actuator mechanism. On the left, the bistable element is facing upward. In the middle, DE1 has pushed the bistable element until it snaps to face downwards as depicted on the right; after Plante.47 (b) The multi-freedom multi-truss binary robot, built up from Mini-Might47 devices that use a bi-stability mechanism based on a single actuator (Reprinted with permission from Plante47).
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FIG. 9. (a) The modes of actuation of the 5 degree-of-freedom device42,49 from Conn and Rossiter.50 (b) A planar actuator can be made to produce a rotation using non-axisymmetric electrode patterning (black zones). The pin rotates 18 with actuation. Reprinted with permission from Ref. 50.
electroded membrane sectors, to translate the pin in three directions and tip around two axes. They also developed a prototype control circuit for this as a system for operating a micro-camera. The kinematics of the convex conical 5 degree of freedom actuator has recently been studied by Conn and Rossiter49,50 (Fig. 9), an actuator that can be manufactured using print technology.51 In theory, a 6th freedom can be added: rotation about the pin. They have shown how this rotation can be achieved on a planar actuator using a non-uniform curved electrode patterning.50 DE articial muscles provide an attractive mechanism for multi-freedom devices that are fully soft and exible with no rigid framework. Potz et al.43 demonstrated a soft
FIG. 11. (Top) Schematic of multilayer stack (a) and helical (b) actuators from Carpi et al.56 (Bottom) Schematic of folded actuator from Carpi et al.57 with voltage off (a) and voltage on (b). Reprinted with permission from Refs. 56 and 57.
rolling robot consisting of an inated elastomer cylinder with an electro-active skin in four segments. Actuation of one segment changed local stiffness, and this resulted in gravity assisted shape change that altered the position of the robots center of mass. Actuation of all four DE segments one after the other produced a rolling motion. A soft mechanism that combines DE with an inated structure can also be used for an air vehicle such as a blimp. In a prototype, Jordi et al.52 have demonstrated the efcacy of sh-like swimming through the air, using meter scale actuators that act antagonistically on opposing sides of a blimp.
FIG. 10. A self-conguring minimal energy structure by Kofod et al.53,54 that, on actuation to 3 kV in the example, can be operated as a gripping device. Reprinted with permission from Ref. 54.
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FIG. 12. (a) Schematic of the stack actuator design by Kovacs et al.58 (b) Stack actuators in action. Reprinted with permission from Ref. 58.
Thin membrane structures can assume complex shapes under the inuence of boundary geometry. A simple example is a soap lm supported within a non-planar boundary that assumes a shape minimizing the lms stored elastic strain and gravitational energy. Kofod and co-workers53,54 have taken this a step further, by coupling a stretched DE membrane to a exible plastic frame. The resulting selfconguring electro-active structure can be used for small machines. Examples include a mini-gripper54 that opens when the voltage is on (Fig. 10), or an array of touchsensitive actuators for a conveyor, as developed by OBrien et al.55 The latter device is described further in Sec. III. In all of the examples cited above, workers have used the in-plane electro-active extension or expansion strain of
DE for actuation. To achieve muscle-like contraction, we can also take advantage of DE thickness reduction. This presents some interesting engineering challenges associated with the stacking of many thin layers of muscle. Several methods for manufacturing such actuators have been proposed. Carpi et al.56 produced a multi-level contractile actuator consisting of an elastomer helix electroded on top and bottom and sealed with a thin layer of silicone (Fig. 11) that was capable of contractile strains of 5% for an electric eld of 14 MV/m. The group has also produced an easier to fabricate, silicone sealed, stack actuator built up from a folded single layer of an electroded silicone dielectric57 (Fig. 11). Folded actuators 85 mm high and 25 mm wide were produced from folded layers that were 0.5-0.8 mm thick.
FIG. 13. (Top) Schematic of three-stage automated process for producing multi-layer patterned devices. (Bottom) The vibrotactile display. Demonstrator with highlighted actuator elements and contact areas. Reprinted with permission from Lotz et al.62
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FIG. 14. Flexible gear motor from Anderson et al.67 (Left) A schematic of the actuation modes for the soft motor. (a) Mode I: simultaneous actuation of all sectors, (b) mode II: turning the central rotor, and (c) mode III: repositioning the rotor sideways through differential actuation of electroded sectors. Right: The photo shows two membrane motors supporting a single rotor. Actuation of electroded zones in the top of the left hand side membrane and bottom of the right hand membrane has repositioned and changed the angle of the rotor. Reprinted with permission from Ref. 67.
Kovacs et al.58 (Fig. 12) have developed thin stack actuators using the 3 M VHB 4910 acrylic. The pre-stretched VHB material was combined with another polymer that provided internal support for the pre-tensioned acrylic, forming an interpenetrating polymer network.59 The Kovacs group also developed a thin carbon powder electrode that did not seriously compromise the tensile strength of the stack so that actuators could lift substantial masses. One such device achieved 10% contraction (2.5 mm) lifting a 20.74 N load, approximately 2000 times the mass of the actuator. Such stacked actuators have a number of potential uses. In addition to providing muscle-like forces capable of lifting 10 N, their use has been demonstrated in prototype devices for dynamic hand splints, bi-directional tilters for positioning systems and lightweight exible space-structures.60 Contractile stack actuators can be used in small devices. The Schlaak group at TU Darmstadt have developed a three stage automated manufacturing process: mixing and spinning polymer components to produce a thin layer 10 lm thick, thermal curing of the polymer, and spraying-on of electrode above a masked substrate.61,62 This can be repeated many times to produce complex multi-layer actuators for applications including vibrotactile haptic devices (Fig. 13), Braille displays, and peristaltic pumps. DE can also provide the mechanism for a capacitive rotary motor that can combine rotation with motion in other degrees of freedom. Capacitive motors, invented before electromagnetic motors and pioneered by Benjamin Franklin63 are not subject to the same Ohmic energy losses associated with current driven electromagnetic motors. Instead, losses are primarily due to inefcient management of charge, and for DE motors; in particular, viscoelastic losses in the material. There have been at least two approaches for producing rotary motion using DE. The rst reported DE-based rotary motor, developed by workers at SRI, mechanically converted vertical motion to rotary motion using a spring roll actuated rocker arm that transmitted torque to a wheel through a oneway roller clutch.64 Rotary actuation has also been produced using antagonistically coupled DE radially arranged within the same membrane, as demonstrated by Anderson et al. whose multi-phase actuators imparted rotary motion through an orbiting gear drive65 or crank.66 Further development on the orbiting gear motor led to a breakthrough that enabled a
multi-DOF actuator (Fig. 14). This was through the substitution of a deformable elastomer gear at the center of the membrane in the place of the rigid gear.67 The central gear could now contract like a sphincter with all sectors charged or assume an elliptical prole by charging sets of opposing membrane sectors (Fig. 14). Subsequent stepping of actuation around the membrane caused the axis of the ellipse to rotate; rolling the contact surface between gear and shaft and turning the shaft in a non-slip drive. The gear literally gripped and turned so that there was no longer a requirement for rigid bearings, and this provided an opportunity for additional motion freedoms. For instance, by varying the relative voltages, the unconstrained axis of rotation could be repositioned up, down, or side-to-side. Using two of these membrane motors to support, a shaft has produced a 5 DOF manipulator that can tip the shaft, translate it, and rotate it. The examples cited above demonstrate that DE actuators provide a soft, low mass, and inexpensive solution for multidegree-of-freedom movement. Applications requiring very low total system mass such as actuators for humanoid robots68 have been hampered by the added mass of the electronics for high voltage power delivery. This situation is rapidly improving and will be less relevant as progress is made towards electronics miniaturization and through integration of electronic switching control with the muscle through soft, low mass electronic components such as the dielectric elastomer switch,69 which will be further elaborated in Sec. V. The switches, for instance, have recently been used for selfcommutation of charge in a DE rotary motor.70 But the exibility of DE that enables direct muscle-like action introduces a new challenge. Gearboxes and bearings provide rigid support for shafts, whereas DE composed of soft elastomers cannot easily hold position against variable and uncertain external loads, unless they can receive and rapidly act on sensory feedback data. This is exactly what our arms and legs do. Such feedback could come from conventional displacement sensors such as linear variable displacement transformers, strain gauges, or other sensors. But such auxiliary devices would add mass and stiffness, working against the goals of simplicity, low mass, and soft structure. Thus, there has been an effort to make DE capable of selfsensing; the ability to sense position and incipient damage without any auxiliary devices.
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III. MECHANO-SENSITIVITY, CYBER-PROPRIOCEPTION, CYBER-PAIN, AND VARIABLE STIFFNESS
portionally to the square of the changing planar area A. Two further equations provide the foundation for self-sensing: 1. The total current i through the DE equals to the sum of the current leaking through the dielectric membrane imembrane and the charging or discharging currents associated with the dynamic voltage drop across the membrane VC and changes to the capacitance CDE,71,72 i CDE dVC dCDE VC imembrane : dt dt (3)
Blind adjustment of a nut on an engine mount, or touching our nose with our eyes closed, would be impossible if our muscles did not have fully integrated strain sensing. Proprioception is what gives us the ability to judge the position of our limbs and ngers and is made possible by strain sensing nerves within muscle and other body tissues. Imparting such sensing capabilities to DE is an important step towards an engineered analogue to natural actuator systems like limbs and tentacles. DE feedback provides a basis for cyberproprioception, enabling compliant DE systems to hold position or move controllably against variable and uncertain external loads. An ability to sense strain also bestows additional functionality such as the capability to act as a pressure or shear sensor. In traditional robotic devices, sensory feedback requires discrete sensors for strain and displacement, but directly coupling such relatively rigid sensors to a DE unnecessarily inhibit motion and add undesirable bulk and mass. The solution, therefore, is to use the articial muscle itself as a strain sensor. That DE can operate also as strain transducers through the sensing of capacitance was suggested by Pelrine et al.14; thus enabling DE to serve as smart active skins that could actuate and sense while gripping, for instance. There are also other electrical properties, in addition to capacitance, which are inuenced by DE deformation, and inferences can be made about its electro-mechanical state, including its health, by measuring some combination of these properties while the DE is being actuated. Gisby et al.15,71,72 have used an adaption of the standard equivalent circuit for a non-ideal capacitor to develop equations for DE self-sensing (Fig. 15). This includes a variable parallel-plate capacitor (CDE) in parallel with a variable resistor representing the nite resistance of the dielectric membrane (Rmembrane), both of which are in series with a second variable resistor representing the resistance of the electrodes (Relectrodes). The capacitance CDE is determined by the ratio of area A to thickness d, multiplied by the relative permittivity of the membrane material er and the permittivity of free space e0, A (2) CDE er e0 : d Given that dielectric elastomers are volumetrically incompressible (Ad constant), the capacitance CDE changes pro-
2. The voltage across the terminals of the DE (VDE) equals to the sum of the voltage drop across the membrane VC and the product of i and the equivalent series resistance Relectrodes,72 VDE iRelectrodes VC : (4)
The electrical parameters in Eqs. (3) and (4) are inextricably linked with the DE devices charge and mechanical states. Due to the strong link between capacitance and geometry illustrated by Eq. (2), initial effort has focused on sensing CDE. For instance, Pei et al. have measured capacitance changes under strain in their spring rolls.38 Goulbourne and co-workers have demonstrated the feasibility of using a cylindrical DE to sense capacitance changes caused by internal pressure, as would be the case if it were part of an actuator73,74 and observed that there is a signicant difference between quasi-static and dynamic sensing situations. But to truly mimic muscle, this sensing functionality should be integrated with DE actuation to create a smart articial muscle. Toth and Goldenberg,75 Jung et al.,76,77 and Chuc et al.78 have explored the measurement of capacitance while
FIG. 15. A basic lumped circuit model of a dielectric elastomer actuator articial muscle.15,71,72 Redrawn from Ref. 71.
FIG. 16. Finite element models of self-organized minimum energy structures under development for a self-sensing conveyor. Model images on the left depict a exible frame (blue) that supports a stretched DE membrane (white). Images on the right depict the predicted deformation when the bottom edge is clamped along with contours of stress. The design in (b) had a much more even distribution of stress in the deformed frame. Reprinted with permission from OBrien.86
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the DE is actuating to extract strain information. All achieved promising results by superimposing a high frequency tone on the high voltage actuation signal for a DE and estimated CDE based on the gain of this tone. However, it was apparent from Toth and Goldenbergs results that for large active stretches an effective self-sensing system must also monitor the changing resistance of the electrodes. It is not uncommon for changes to Relectrodes to be both signicant79 and dependent on both time and strain rate.79,80 This complex behavior of surface electrode resistance was also evident in the work of OBrien et al.,80 where changes in the resistance of the carbon-based electrodes were used to estimate DE deformation. A regression model t to a set of training data was able to predict the quasi-static stretch of the DE from electrode resistance, but its accuracy was poor during transient conditions, and the electrode resistance changed with time and with number of stretch cycles, necessitating frequent retraining and retting of the regression model. There are some specic instances when we can safely ignore electrode strain effects on resistance. For example, actuation of the highly conductive corrugated electrode design of Benslimane et al.81 results in attening of the corrugations without straining the electrode directly. These authors have suggested that segmenting a monolithic membrane into large high voltage actuation and small low voltage capacitive sensing regions could produce a self-sensing DE device.82 Even if electrode resistance is signicant and if all that is required is a DE touch sensitive triggering mechanism, then electrode resistance change can be ignored. For instance, Matysek et al.83 only required the sensing of a touch event: the deformation state of a mechanical push button. Capacitance increased when the button was depressed, resulting in more charge owing through the DE when it was charged to a given voltage. Individually, infrequent polling pulses were imperceptible to a human ngertip, but vibrations could be felt if the frequency of impulses was increased to several hundred Hertz. Also focusing on capacitance alone, Gisby et al. developed an algorithm that enabled simultaneous actuation and sensing of capacitance for a DE, powered using digital pulse width modulation (PWM).84 Voltage oscillations due to the PWMs high frequency switching provided a signal for CDE estimation. The algorithm was used by OBrien et al.,85 for a conveyor device inspired by the mechano-sensitive cilia swimming paddles of the ctenophore comb-jellysh. The conveyors DE actuators were based on the self-organized minimum energy structure described by Kofod et al.53 Careful design of these actuators was facilitated by a fast nite element modeling technique (Fig. 16) that enabled the use of planar membrane elements by including the electrostatic energy in the strain energy function.55 Each actuator, when touched, produced a capacitance change that triggered actuation, and this resulted in a wave of motion from one end of the device to the other that pushed a cylindrical object supported on parallel rails forward (Fig. 17). Speed of travel was inuenced by the inertia of the cylinder. An extension of this sensing approach was used to control a tilting platform apparatus.69 The system could detect capacitance changes down
FIG. 17. (a) A comb-jelly (Lampea sp.), from Anderson,87 depicting waves of cilia comb plate actuation passing in the forward direction (upwards) along a ctenophore comb row. Reprinted with permission from Ref. 87. (b) Inspired by this control strategy OBrien et al.85 produced touch sensitive DE actuators based on the self-organized structure of Kofod et al.53
to <20 pF associated with the load induced by the object being moved. In order to accurately characterize the electrical state of the DE at all levels of strain, it is desirable to sense capacitance along with electrode resistance as well. Keplinger et al.88 pioneered this using a high frequency AC signal that was used to measure the complex impedance of the DE circuit. Both the gain and the phase delay of the AC signal were analyzed to determine the capacitance and the electrode resistance. Gisby et al. extended the algorithm that was used for the OBrien actuator array, so that, in addition to capacitance, leakage current could be estimated too.15 Further developments included real time calculation of all three parameters: capacitance, electrode resistance, and leakage current.71 This method used multiple data points to estimate all three parameters, thus reducing sensitivity to noise, while still accounting for realistic DE behaviors, i.e., current induced by the rate of change of the capacitance and changes in leakage current due to both altered geometry and changes in membrane conductivity. Mechanical and electrical stresses, singly or in combination, can also result in damage and eventually failure of the DE.47,89 In addition, variability in materials and manufacturing processes can cause some considerable uncertainty about the robustness of individual DE. For example, while electric
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FIG. 18. (a) Characteristic leakage current versus time for a DEA during testing. Voltage was increased at a steady rate (5 V/s) over time up to breakdown. Reprinted with permission from Gisby et al.33
With these developments, we now have at our ngertips the ability to monitor not only the actions of DE devices but also their state of health, and exploit levels of activation that were previously avoided due to reliability concerns. Full characterization of the electro-mechanical state also opens the door to other functions. Charging the DE produces force and motion through the Maxwell stress (Eq. (1)), but it is also possible to control DE stiffness through charge control as demonstrated by Choi and co-workers with their robotic ANTLA mechanism.44 Pelrine and Kornbluh90 have produced an analytical expression for stiffness that relates work done on the DE to the increase in mechanical and electrical energy stored in the DE plus the incremental electrical energy ux from the DE. This assumes the system to be perfectly elastic with no electrical or mechanical energy losses. This analysis produced the following equation relating the stiffness Kz of a charged DE with volume Vol and charge Q to the stiffness with no charge Kz0: Kz Kz0 Q2 : er e0 Vol (5)
elds in excess of 400 106 V/m have been used in laboratory experiments,24 in practice, DE devices are operated at a fraction of this eld strength in order to avoid dielectric breakdown due to manufacturing imperfections and wear, signicantly limiting DE operation. Therefore, it would be extremely useful to have a DE health monitoring method that can provide a cyber-pain signal to help prevent damage or compensate for it, while allowing each DE to attain the maximum performance that it is capable of. Gisby et al. proposed that an electronic analogue for pain based on leakage current can be used as a mechanism for preventing premature failure.33 They investigated the relationship between electric eld and leakage current for simple DE expanding dot actuators up to breakdown.33 Actuators that failed prematurely exhibited noticeably higher nominal power dissipation and a higher frequency of partial discharge events at a given electric eld than those that did not incur breakdown during testing. This effect could easily be seen, even at electric elds well below that at which the weakest DE failed (Fig. 18).
The second right hand side term in Eq. (5) is always positive so it can be concluded that charge adds to DE stiffness.90 Gisby has demonstrated practical real time stiffness variation through control of the electrical charge on a DE.72 An experiment was performed in which a varying in-plane load was imposed on a self-sensing DE dot actuator (Fig. 19). Activation of the perimeter DE actuator caused the expanding dot to contract and its capacitance to decrease. Gisby successfully modied the effective stiffness of an actuator by a factor of 4 by controlling the level of charge on the actuator as a function of capacitance.72 Stiffness control brings us closer to the realization of a muscle-like material for it is through stiffness control that the muscles in our limbs can quickly respond to transient events associated with running and jumping, or even just stepping off a curb. At the time of writing, there are no DE based systems that can fully emulate an animal locomotor apparatus. But
FIG. 19. Experimental setup for stiffness control from Gisby.72 Two independent DEAs were patterned on a prestretched VHB4905 membrane: an expanding dot enhanced with self-sensing capabilities in the center, and a DEA for applying an in-plane mechanical disturbance patterned around the perimeter of the membrane.
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signicant progress is being made through simultaneous actuation, proprioceptive control, and pain sensing along with stiffness control, enabling DE technology to move towards the ability to mimic key functional elements of animal locomotion. Through the control of stiffness, muscles are rendered highly versatile and capable of channeling energy and absorbing it too. DEs are capable of emulating this function. DEs have an additional capability that animal muscle does not share: the ability to generate electrical power from movement, the subject of Sec. IV.
IV. ENERGY HARVESTING
The harvesting of electrical energy using DE generators (DEGs) was reported in 2001 by workers at SRI.9193 Their analysis has suggested that on an energy density basis, DEG could surpass single crystal ceramics by several times and electromagnetics by an order of magnitude.91 DEGs can harvest energy from natural sources such as human movements,9195 ocean waves,91,96,97 wind,96,98 solar,99 and owing water.100 They can also generate power directly from an expanding gas polymer engine.96 Amongst other prototype applications, workers at SRI have developed a wave energy harvester used on a buoy in Tampa Bay, Florida, which produced an average power of 250 mW,100 and they have demonstrated how DE can be used for converting heel-strike energy to electrical energy using a shoe DEG that recorded 280 mJ of energy conversion from a single heel strike.91 Electrical energy can also be obtained directly from trees: Anderson et al. demonstrated how a portable DEG could be used to harvest energy from a swaying tree branch.98 For an energy harvester to be truly animal muscle-like, it needs to be soft and portable. One obstacle holding DEG back from achieving animal-like performance is the mass and rigidity in the charge-control electronics. Consider how a simple membrane DEG works (Fig. 20): mechanical energy is converted to electrical energy by rst deforming the DE membrane. The electronics then places charges on the exible electrodes of the deformed elastomer. Relaxation of the membrane forces the opposite charges apart and packs like charges closer together, thus raising the energy state of the charge on the DE. The electronics controls the harvesting of this energy, and the cycle is repeated. If the charge on the DEG elastomer is held constant during relaxation, this increase in electrical energy comes in the form of an increased voltage across the DEG. Thus, the role of the electronics is to control the transfer of charge to and from the elastomer and how this is managed can greatly inuence system efciency. There has been much effort directed to nd ways for optimizing this process. Pelrine et al. described an optimal energy harvesting cycle: charge is applied to the membrane up to the breakdown strength (step 2, Fig. 20), and then removed under close control, maintaining eld at the breakdown strength as the membrane is allowed to relax (step 3), although the DEG will not completely relax at step 3 until all remaining charge is harvested from the membrane.91
FIG. 20. (a) Schematic of a DEG energy cycle. From top moving clockwise (1) mechanical energy is input to the system deforming the DEG, (2) an electrical energy input then charges the stretched DEG, and (3) the mechanical energy is then transferred to the charges by separating opposite and compressing like charges together. (4) The electrical energy is then extracted, causing the membrane to return to its original shape and the cycle repeats. Reprinted with permission from McKay.134 (b) We represent the ideal cycle described by Pelrine et al.91 for a DEG with a constant and invariant breakdown strength and whose failure is only inuenced by dielectric breakdown. In part 1 of the sequence, the membrane is stretched up to but not exceeding its rupture strength. In part 2, the membrane is charged up to but not exceeding breakdown. In part 3 of the cycle, the membrane is relaxed at the constant electrical eld. In part 4, remaining charge is removed from the membrane, allowing it to return to its original shape.
Although optimal for ideal DE materials, such a cycle would be unattractive due to practical electronics considerations.91 Based on the work by Plante,26 Jean-Mistral et al.101 considered how all three DE failure modes might affect the harvesting cycle: material failure or rupture, dielectric breakdown, and pull-in (also referred to as electro-mechanical instability). They developed a comprehensive model for DEG that can be closely linked to polymer properties and that can adjust for electrical, thermal, and mechanical inuences.102 Using a similar approach, but with four failure modes, the additional one being loss of tension in the membrane, Koh et al. tracked potential energy cycles on voltage-charge and stress-stretch planes to identify cycles of maximum energy conversion.103,104 Their plots can be used for dening permissible and safe energy harvesting cycles for natural rubber and VHB acrylic (Fig. 21).
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FIG. 21. Operation maps in the stress-stretch plane (left) and the voltagecharge plane (right) from Koh et al.104 Here P, L, H, k, U, and Q refer to force, dielectric length, initial dielectric thickness, stretch ratio, voltage, and charge, respectively. F(k) is the stress-stretch curve of the elastomer. The shaded areas represent the operating conditions safe from the mechanisms of DE failure that include electrical breakdown (EB), electromechanical instability (EMI), and loss of tension (LT). Maximum energy is generated by following the perimeter of these envelopes. Reprinted with permission from Ref. 104.
Although limited to relatively small strains, a popular material model for rubber-like materials is the MooneyRivlin model. Liu et al.105 and Diaz-Calleja and LloveraSegovia106 have shown how Mooney-Rivlin can be used to map safe design limits for a DEG, a development that could be useful for theoretical optimization studies with nite elements. Graf et al.107 have considered DEG optimization from the practical perspective of electronic power management. In particular, they investigated three options during the strain relaxation period (#3 in Fig. 20): constant priming charge, constant voltage, and constant eld for materials working close to material failure or dielectric breakdown. They considered (1) the energy gain per cycle relative to the specic energy (the stored electrical energy at breakdown) and (2) the energy gain per cycle relative to the reactive energy (reactive energy losses are associated with power electronics). Constant eld was the best control strategy for the rst criterion and constant charge the best for the second. Graf et al.108 have also investigated material development issues associated with DEG, suggesting amongst other things the need for more extensible electrodes, less conductive elastomers, and optimized electronics and storage. Much progress has been made with identifying good control strategies from the theory side. But to make further progress, a systematic experimental method is needed particularly to evaluate new materials as they become available. Brochu et al.109 developed a model and experimental system that has enabled them to compare their interpenetrating polymer material59 with the Inlaster PolyPower corrugated silicone.81 Another approach for materials development is offered by Kaltseis et al.110 who have produced a system for monitoring energy, both electrical and mechanical under closely controlled conditions. An expanding balloon, DEG is used and charge ows between two large capacitive reservoirs. But for practical systems, optimizing charge control, so that the DEG operation closely tracks its failure envelope
comes at the cost of sophisticated and bulky additional electronics. Producing lightweight and portable systems will incur certain restrictions on the achievement of optimal efciency. For the remainder of this section, we focus on such small-scale generators with emphasis on developments towards lightweight, low cost, soft, and highly portable DEG electronics. A simple DEG circuit, illustrated in Fig. 22, has been used in several studies.91,100,111 The DEG is primed to a bias voltage from a high voltage supply (Vs) through a diode. The supply maintains the DEG voltage at Vs as it is stretched. When its deformation is relaxed, the diode prevents charge ow between the high voltage supply and DEG. Provided the load impedance is sufciently high, charge remains essentially constant during the relaxation and the DEG voltage spikes above Vs. A schematic voltage waveform output from such a system during the relaxation phase is illustrated alongside in Fig. 22. To improve the control of the DEG charge state, the diode can be replaced with active switches between the DEG and the voltage source and load.94,103,109,110,112,113 It is desirable to have simple circuitry that manages charge, operating in synchrony with the mechanical strain that is being applied to the elastomer with no external power requirements to drive switching, sensing, and logic circuitry. To address this, passive charge pump priming circuits have been developed which convert the energy produced by the DEG into a higher charge form.114116. Provided the mechanical excitation of the DEG is sufcient, this charge boost can compensate for losses and mains connection or recharging using an auxiliary energy source such as a battery is not necessary. A simple version of the charge pump
FIG. 22. Simple xed charge DEG circuit (a) and a schematic of an output voltage waveform measured from this system (b). The voltage spike during interval I results from membrane DEG relaxation. The energy is slowly transferred to the high impedance load during interval II. Adapted from Pelrine et al.91
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FIG. 23. The self-priming circuit is connected in parallel with the DEG (a). A simple self priming circuit is illustrated (b) along with its equivalent high voltage (c) and high charge (d) forms. With reference to (e), the circuit is in a high charge form when current ows along the dashed path and high voltage form when it follows the dotted path. Reprinted with permission from McKay et al.116
conguration is given in Fig. 23. The circuit consists of two capacitors and three diodes, and this circuit controls the current in the following manner: Current ows from node A to node B when the DEG transfers generated energy to the priming circuit. When current ows in that direction, the capacitors are in series (energy is in a high voltage, low charge form). The capacitors in the priming circuit toggle into a parallel state when the DEG is primed. This shift between states allows the priming circuit to passively convert the generated energy to a higher charge form replenishing charge losses. Because the system can provide extra priming charges, we refer to the circuit from here on as the self-priming circuit (SPC). A limitation of the SPC is that the proportional change in voltage produced by the DEG needs to be higher than that across the capacitor bank when it toggles the state to allow current to ow between the DEG and the SPC. In the case below, if C1 is equal to C2, the voltage needs to at least double for the system to self-prime. The self-priming circuit addresses the need suggested by Prahlad et al. for low cost electronics to support small scale applications such as heel-strike shoe and parasitic remote sensor generators.96 But priming circuit mass, bulk and rigidity still needs to be reduced for a DEG system to be truly portable or wearable. For instance, Hyperdrive Corporation fabricated a small scale power generator composed of 1 g of DEG membrane; however, as illustrated by Chiba et al. the bulk of the external electronics was signicantly larger than that of the DEG.117 The cost of electronics to support small scale applications such as heel-strike shoe and parasitic remote sensor generators presents a further challenge.96 This highlights a crucial point; for the fundamental mechanism of DEG power generation to be scale invariant, equally scalable external electronics are required. System mass and stiffness reduction is achievable by integrating scalable electronics directly onto the DEG membrane. Prahlad et al. have highlighted that large arrays of distributed power generators would be enabled if high voltage exible polymer electronics were developed.96 In a drive to reduce electronics mass, McKay et al. have produced the integrated self-priming circuit DEG that uses the inherent capacitance of DE to perform the energy storage function of the
capacitor bank into the generator membrane,118,119 thus eliminating the extra bulk of external capacitors. Diodes are the other element of a self-priming circuit. In Sec. V, we introduce a soft dielectric elastomer electronics technology that can replace the diodes in the DEG priming circuit. But as we will see their usefulness goes far beyond diode replacement.
V. MULTI-FUNCTIONAL SMART MUSCLE SYSTEMS WITH FULLY INTEGRATED CHARGE CONTROL
DE can produce multi-freedom actuation, sense strain, vary stiffness, and convert mechanical work to electrical energy; all functions that require electronics for the management of charge. In this section, we will demonstrate how this list can be extended to include fully integrated and localized control. An electronic circuit is composed of materials that are typically several orders of magnitude stiffer than the DE elastomer. Besides reducing exibility, adding stiffness, and considerable mass, conventional electronics can result in stress concentrations and this can seriously compromise the reliability of electrical contact at the interface and of the DE itself. Complicating this issue is the electronic control requirements for multi-degree-of-freedom machines. Consider the soft motor depicted in Fig. 14 that required electronic switches for high voltage delivery to its separate phases in order to displace or rotate the shaft. For such a bearing-less motor to hold its position under extraneous load, constant monitoring of positional feedback data would be required. Thus, we must add to the control payload electronics, not only for power and switching, but also for sensory feedback. Another downside of such composite assemblies of electronics and actuators is the inherent manufacturing complexity of a hybrid elastomer/electronics system. The ideal solution is to control the charge using devices that can be fully integrated onto the elastomer, which is not only composed of the same materials but also manufactured using the same technology. OBrien et al. showed that one could take advantage of electrode piezoresistivity to do this; resulting in the creation of the dielectric elastomer switch
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(DES).69 DES are stretchable electrodes that undergo orders of magnitude changes in resistance when stretched. By making DES tolerant of high voltages, they can be used to directly control the charge on an articial muscle device. Consider the generator described in Sec. IV. McKay et al. used DES to control charge transfer to and from the DEG instead of diodes120 (Fig. 24), eliminating the need for external circuitry and enabling the production of fully soft generators. The generator shown here consists of two membranes supported in rigid frames with central coupling points. When the coupling points are connected out of plane as shown in Fig. 24(b), all the switches patterned onto the generator are below percolation threshold and, therefore, non conductive (Q1-3). When the coupling point is moved back and forwards by the action of a reciprocating mechanical energy source, the switches become conductive in such a way as to imitate the action of the self priming circuit described by Mckay et al.116 and in Sec. IV. DES open up a wide range of electronic functionality when combined with active DE muscle elements. They have been used for controlling charge commutation on a DE rotary motor.70 OBrien et al. showed how DES can be combined with DE actuators to form logic gates.69 A NAND gate was formed as shown in Fig. 25: Two DE elements (on either side of the gure) were congured to compress a DES element. When either DE actuator element was activated, but not both, the strain applied to the DES element was low, if both DEA elements were activated the compression was large. This caused the switch to only conduct when both DE actuators were active, and when the DES was congured into a voltage divider circuit, it had the function of a NAND gate. NAND gates are signicant because with combinations of NAND gates any other Boolean logic circuit can be built.121
FIG. 24. (Top) Soft generator which utilizes DES (From McKay et al.120). Top and bottom membranes are depicted on the left (a) and a side view is depicted on the right (b). Movement of the central disk towards the bottom membrane stretches switches Q1 and Q2 and compresses switch Q3. The resistance of Q1 and Q2 will increase sharply while that of Q3 decreases. Upward movement produces the opposite effect. These resistance changes are used for control of charge on the generator membranes. The DES are depicted in the circuit diagram (bottom) as variable resistors and the DE membranes as variable capacitances. Reprinted with permission from Ref. 120.
OBrien also demonstrated an articial muscle ip-op built using DES technology.122 The ip-op was able to remember either an on or off state when set or reset demonstrating a rubber analogue to digital memory. They can also be combined into a network to produce oscillators. An articial muscle ring oscillator123 formed out of three articial muscle inverters connected into a ring was made, as shown in Fig. 26. The conguration is unstable and will oscillate as
FIG. 25. (a) NAND gate design. The resistance of Rvar will only drop below Rxed when both inputs are charged. (b) DE NAND gate in action. (c) NAND gate response showing voltage vs time. Reprinted with permission from OBrien et al.69
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FIG. 28. (a) A pattern (1) of implanted metal ions and sputtered gold contacts are applied to one side of a thin lm of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) that was spun on a Si wafer. This is then bonded to a Pyrex square (2) with openings machined by UV laser and gold electrodes (3), after which a matching pattern of implanted ions and gold contacts is added to the opposite side (4). (b) Photograph of a nished micro-chip with four actuators, each of which is 3 mm in diameter. Reprinted with permission from Rosset et al.132
FIG. 26. An articial muscle ring oscillator from OBrien and Anderson123 that consists of three inverters (bottom, middle, and top pairs of circular membrane units) joined electrically into a ring such that the output of the top pair is fed as input into the bottom pair. Reprinted with permission from Ref. 123.
fast as the constituent gates allow making it a potentially useful benchmarking tool for the evaluation of different DES technologies. Thus, DES and DE actuators can be part of a closed loop logical element with electrical information owing in one direction in the form of charge that actuates muscles, and mechanical information owing in the other direction in the form of deformation strains applied to the DES. This is illustrated schematically in Fig. 27. The examples cited here suggest that DES can not only reduce system mass through substitution for hard and more massive electronic components but can also create new opportunities for innovative soft DE devices that are controlled by DES moderated interactions between mechanical strain and charge.
VI. CONCLUDING REMARKS
FIG. 27. DES and DE actuators can be part of a closed loop logical element with electrical information (charging discharging) owing one way and mechanical (deformation strains) the other. Reprinted with permission from OBrien et al.69
The emerging DE technology we have reviewed presents exciting possibilities across a wide range of applications including soft robotics. Soft robots would open up new vistas in autonomous robotics: devices for exploration and
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maintenance that could reach around corners and negotiate narrow passages for salvage missions, medical robots capable of exploring the gastrointestinal track or performing precision surgery, healthcare robots with facial muscles that can empathize, and highly recongurable manufacturing robots just to name a few. An octopus-arm robot like the one that is currently being developed by workers at Pisa124 would be a particularly interesting goal for DE based soft robotics. The living octopus arm has, in effect, an innite number of degrees of freedom which means that there are innite ways an arm can be actuated for the performance of a task. To control their arms, octopus depend on sensory proprioceptive feedback and local control through neural ganglia, the brain in the arm and other strategies.125 Work to date suggests that DE devices can also provide local control. It is now possible to build simple mechano-sensitive circuitry into articial muscle devices, embedding reexes and simple octopus-like stereotypical behavior into a soft exible network. DE can also be used in combination with other soft actuators. For instance, Goulbourne et al.73 have shown how DE can be used as sensors when bonded to the walls of pneumatic McKibben actuators. But to achieve fully soft, self-sensing functionality in a useful and robust system there are some key challenges still to be addressed and these include Material development: Many of the cited works describe how DE can produce some very impressive performance metrics, but current materials have some signicant limitations and there is ongoing work to nd better materials as listed in the review by Brochu and Pei.21 Analysis also suggests that performance can be further enhanced through careful material design: for instance, tailoring of the stress strain curve can, in theory, open the road to giant deformations as described by Zhao and Suo.29 Reliability: Although relatively simple and carefully designed DE actuators have achieved impressive reliability across a range of environmental conditions, as discussed in Sec. II, we still need to demonstrate more general actuation, sensing, and switching combinations that do not decay despite millions of cycles of operation. Manufacturability: The integration of multiple actuation, sensing, and logic elements into a DE system requires compatible manufacturing processes and an ability to assemble. That will build upon research already underway in DE fabrication through printing,51,126 and stacking of actuator membranes.5658,127 But it also requires signicant improvements in process repeatability in order to produce multifunctional networks and systems. This is likely to involve automation and new processes as well as a better understanding of process variables whose effect is still not well known. Ability to miniaturize: It should be possible to miniaturize DE devices, this will open the door to new micro-applications that already include tunable diffraction gratings,128 tunable lenses,129 and research devices for delivering mechanical stimulation to individual cells,130 to name a few. To meet these needs, the electro-active polymer research community needs to explore a wide range of different materials and processes. Investigations already underway include ion-implanted electrode micro-patterning
by the group at EPFL131,132 (Fig. 28) and micromanufacturing at TU Darmstadt.62,127,133 The emergence of reliable soft, smart, scalable articial muscles with intrinsic circuitry69,70,122,123 will allow us to imitate some of the superior capabilities of biological systems such as the octopus arm as well as disrupting and transforming core industrial technologies. The ability to combine complex mechanical and electrical manipulation in a single material system opens new vistas for design of all manner of electromechanical devices and, in particular, for implementing the networks of actuators that are ubiquitous and highly successful in nature. Imagine soft, biomimetic robots, and lifelike prostheses, massively distributed sensing and signal processing built into walls or clothing, wearable haptic feedback systems, gearless mechanical transformers, and silent power stations. While important hurdles still remain before the potential of this technology can be fully realized, it already has reached a stage where it captures the imagination, inspiring novel research goals for the creation of multifunctional soft and smart machines.
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Multi-functional dielectric elastomer artificial muscles for soft and smart machines

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JOURNAL OF APPLIED PHYSICS 112, 041101 (2012)

APPLIED PHYSICS REVIEWSFOCUSED REVIEW

I. INTRODUCTIONDIELECTRIC ELASTOMER (DE) BACKGROUND AND FUNDAMENTALS

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II. MULTI-DEGREE-OF-FREEDOM DE ACTUATION

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III. MECHANO-SENSITIVITY, CYBER-PROPRIOCEPTION, CYBER-PAIN, AND VARIABLE STIFFNESS

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IV. ENERGY HARVESTING

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J. Appl. Phys. 112, 041101 (2012)

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