Development of Endoskeletal Dielectric Elastomer Actuators

Abstract

In this study, we propose a biomimetic actuator module with an endoskeletal structure using dielectric elastomer actuators (DEAs). DEAs are a type of soft actuators whose characteristics are similar to those of natural muscles. The proposed actuator has an elastic hinge connected to a rolled DEA. These parts are further attached to endoskeletons made of carbon rods. We characterized a prototype of the endoskeletal DEAs in terms of hinge angle as a function of the applied voltage. We observed that the prototype exhibited actuated angle of 5.9° at the applied voltage of 2 kV.