Strong Reliable Electrostatic Actuation Based on Self-Clearing Using a Thin Conductive Layer

Xie, Guoyong1; Fan, Dongliang1,2; Wang, Huacen1,2; Zhu, Renjie1,2; Mao, Jianjun2; Wang, Hongqiang1,2,3,4

2023-02-01

10.1089/soro.2022.0132

Soft Robotics   Impact Factor & Quartile

2169-5172

2169-5180

Electrostatic adhesion, as a promising actuation technique for soft robotics, severely suffers from the failure caused by the unpredictable electrical breakdown. This study proposes a novel self-clearing mechanism for electrostatic actuators, particularly for electrostatic adhesion. By simply employing an enough thin conductive layer (e.g., <7 mu m for copper), this method can spontaneously clear the conductor around the breakdown sites effectively once breakdowns onset and survive the actuator shortly after the electrical damage. Compared with previous self-clearing methods, which typically rely on new specific materials, this mechanism is easy to operate and compatible with various materials and fabrication processes. In our tests, it can improve the maximum available voltage by 260% and the maximum electrostatic adhesive force by 276%. In addition, the robustness and repeatability of the self-clearing mechanism are validated by surviving consecutive breakdowns and self-clearing of 173 times during 65 min. This method is also demonstrated to be capable of recovering the electrostatic pad from severe physical damages such as punctures, penetrations, and cuttings successfully and enabling stable and reliable operation of the electrostatic clutch, or gripping, for example, even after the short-circuit takes place for hundreds of times. Therefore, the proposed self-clearing method sheds new light on high performance and more extensive practical applications of electrostatic actuators in the future.

electrostatic adhesion self-clearing electrostatic actuator fault tolerance

SCI

English

First ; Corresponding

National Key R&D Program of China[2022YFB4701200] ; National Natural Science Foundation of China[52275021] ; Science, Technology, andInnovation Commission of Shenzhen Municipality[ZDSYS20200811143601004] ; Natural Science Foundation of Liaoning Province of China (State Key Laboratory of Robotics joint funding)[2021-KF-22-11] ; Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Guangzhou)[K19313901]

Robotics

Robotics

WOS:000940730100001

MARY ANN LIEBERT, INC

Web of Science

1.Southern Univ Sci & Technol, Dept Mech & Energy Engn, Shenzhen Key Lab Biomimet Robot & Intelligent Syst, Shenzhen, Peoples R China
2.Southern Univ Sci & Technol, Guangdong Prov Key Lab Human Augmentat & Rehabil R, Shenzhen, Peoples R China
3.Southern Marine Sci & Engn Guangdong Lab Guangzhou, Guangzhou, Peoples R China
4.Southern Univ Sci & Technol, Dept Mech & Energy Engn, Shenzhen Key Lab Biomimet Robot & Intelligent Syst, 1088 Xueyuan Blvd, Shenzhen 518055, Peoples R China

Xie, Guoyong,Fan, Dongliang,Wang, Huacen,et al. Strong Reliable Electrostatic Actuation Based on Self-Clearing Using a Thin Conductive Layer[J]. Soft Robotics,2023.

Xie, Guoyong,Fan, Dongliang,Wang, Huacen,Zhu, Renjie,Mao, Jianjun,&Wang, Hongqiang.(2023).Strong Reliable Electrostatic Actuation Based on Self-Clearing Using a Thin Conductive Layer.Soft Robotics.

Xie, Guoyong,et al."Strong Reliable Electrostatic Actuation Based on Self-Clearing Using a Thin Conductive Layer".Soft Robotics (2023).