Publications related to Design of an Innovative Cylindrical Spring with a Negative Stiffness

Inversing the actuation cycle of dielectric elastomer actuators for a facial prosthesis

Paolo Germano, Yves Perriard, Yoan René Cyrille Civet, Alexis Boegli, Thomas Guillaume Martinez, Stefania Maria Aliki Konstantinidi, Quentin Philippe Mario De Menech

Dielectric Elastomer Actuators (DEAs) are a type of smart material described as compliant capacitors. They show impressive performances as soft actuators, such as a high strain and fast response. Nonetheless, replicating natural muscle function with DEAs h ...

Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE)2024

Additively manufactured stretchable zipping electrostatic actuators

Giulio Grasso

The use of soft and stretchable materials allows the development of adaptive robotic systems and human-machine interfaces that are more natural and comfortable to interact with. One of the application fields that benefits the most from these compliant mate ...

EPFL2024

Educational Soft Underwater Robot with an Electromagnetic Actuation

Robert Marius Hennig

As demonstrated by the Soft Robotics Toolkit Platform, compliant robotics pose an exciting educational opportunity. Underwater robotics using soft undulating fins is an expansive research topic with applications such as exploration of underwater life or re ...

Mary Ann Liebert, Inc2024

Permanently magnetized elastomer rotating actuator using traveling waves

Herbert Shea

We report a soft actuator that generates continuous rotation of an object placed on it by electromagnetically exciting circular travelling waves in a soft disk. The disk, that serves as the stator, is made of a stretchable composite consisting of segments ...

Iop Publishing Ltd2024

Reactive collision-free motion generation in joint space via dynamical systems and sampling-based MPC

Aude Billard, Nadia Barbara Figueroa Fernandez, Mikhail Koptev

Dynamical system (DS) based motion planning offers collision-free motion, with closed-loop reactivity thanks to their analytical expression. It ensures that obstacles are not penetrated by reshaping a nominal DS through matrix modulation, which is construc ...

Sage Publications Ltd2024

Carbon based printed electrodes for DEAs: study of pad, inkjet, and stencil printing

Yves Perriard, Yoan René Cyrille Civet, Thomas Guillaume Martinez, Stefania Maria Aliki Konstantinidi, Armando Matthieu Walter, Simon Holzer

Dielectric elastomer actuators (DEAs) have raised interest due to their remarkable capabilities in various applications, such as soft robotics, haptic feedback systems, and biomedical devices. To harness the full potential of DEAs, the choice of the electr ...

Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE)2024

Soft Bending Actuator With Fiber-Jamming Variable Stiffness and Fiber-Optic Proprioception

Sudong Lee

Soft actuators with a function of variable stiffness are beneficial to the improvement of the adaptability of robots, expanding the application areas and environments. We propose a tendon-driven soft bending actuator that can change its stiffness using fib ...

Ieee-Inst Electrical Electronics Engineers Inc2023

Fabrication and Characterization of the Kirigami-Inspired SMA-Powered Actuator

Yves Perriard, Sean Thomas, Guilain Lionel Germain Lang, Thomas Guillaume Martinez, Marjan Ghorbani

This paper presents an innovative approach to creating Shape Memory Alloys (SMA)-based actuators that are lightweight, compact, and capable of providing large strokes. Inspired by the Kirigami structure, an SMA actuator is designed using the Ω -pattern, wh ...

2023

Real-time actuation of a dielectric elastomer actuator neuroprosthesis for facial paralysis

Yves Perriard, Yoan René Cyrille Civet, Thomas Guillaume Martinez, Stefania Maria Aliki Konstantinidi, Armando Matthieu Walter, Amine Benouhiba

Facial paralysis is a highly burdening condition, resulting in a patient's inability to move his mimic musculature on one or both sides of his face. This condition compromises the patient's communication and facial expressions, and thus dramatically reduce ...

2023

Increasing the Energy Efficiency of Gas Boosters for Hydrogen Storage and for Refueling Stations

Alfred Rufer

A new electrically driven gas booster is described as an alternative to the classical air-driven gas boosters known for their poor energetic efficiency. These boosters are used in small scale Hydrogen storage facilities and in refueling stations for Hydrog ...

MDPI2023

Electrode Impact on the Electrical Breakdown of Dielectric Elastomer Thin Films

Herbert Shea, Fabio Beco Albuquerque

Dielectric Elastomer Actuators (DEAs) enable the realization of energy-efficient and compact actuator systems. DEAs operate at the kilovolt range with typically microampere-level currents and hence minimize thermal losses in comparison to low voltage/high ...

MDPI2023

Modeling and analysis of miniaturized magnetorheological valve for fluidic actuation

Sofia Lydia Ntella

Fluidic actuation enables movement in a wide range of mechanical systems, from simple laboratory devices to more complex industrial machinery. Fluids are used to generate motion of mechanical pieces. The term "fluids" encompasses two types of technologies: ...

EPFL2023

High Permittivity Siloxanes as Promising Materials for Dielectric Elastomer Transducers: From Synthesis to Application

Yauhen Sheima

The speed of change in the modern world is impressive. Within the last 50 years, many devices and technologies have significantly transformed their appearance, intrinsic characteristics and improved their performance. Computers have changed from the size o ...

EPFL2022

Control-oriented modeling and analysis of tubular dielectric elastomer actuators dedicated to cardiac assist devices

Yves Perriard, Yoan René Cyrille Civet, Ning Liu, Thomas Guillaume Martinez, Armando Matthieu Walter

This paper deals with the control-oriented modeling of a multilayered dielectric elastomer actuator based tube. The actuator is clamped at both sides and performs a radial displacement. The hyperelastic deformation and the viscoelastic performance, togethe ...

2022

Lifetime of dielectric elastomer actuators under DC electric fields

Fabio Beco Albuquerque

Dielectric elastomer actuators (DEAs) are interesting soft actuators compared to other actuation technologies owing to large achievable actuation strains, high energy density and fast actuation. However, because DEAs need to be operated under high electric ...

EPFL2022

Actuator, valve actuator unit and valve

Herbert Shea, Fabio Beco Albuquerque

An actuator (22) comprises at least one actuator body (32) of dielectric elastomeric material and two electrodes (34, 36) being attached to opposite surfaces of the actuator body (32), respectively. At least one of the actuator body (32) and at least one o ...

2022

Synthesis of Novel Integrated Actuators Powered by Shape Memory Alloys

Sean Thomas

In the modern age of miniaturisation, Smart Materials, a type of material that reacts mechanically to a certain stimulus, have become an integral part of this revolution. Among these materials, Shape Memory Alloys (SMAs), which have the highest volumetric ...

EPFL2022

Principle and Analysis of Radial-Force-Based Swirling Actuator for Low-Speed High-Torque Applications

Adrien Jean-Michel Thabuis

This article proposes a swirling actuator that uses the electromagnetic radial force and mechanical gears to generate rotational torque. The proposed actuator generates a rotating radial force between an inner stator and a swirler. The gears on the swirler ...

IEEE-INST ELECTRICAL ELECTRONICS ENGINEERS INC2022

Recent Advances in Piezoelectric Materials for Electromechanical Transducer Applications

Dragan Damjanovic

Ferroelectricity has made a huge impact on science and technology since Joseph Valasek (then a Ph.D. student at the University of Minnesota) discovered it in 1920, a little longer than 100 years ago. Whereas Dr. Valasek's original research was motivated by ...

IEEE-INST ELECTRICAL ELECTRONICS ENGINEERS INC2022

Design and modelling of a tubular dielectric elastomer actuator with constrained radial displacement as a cardiac assist device

Yves Perriard, Yoan René Cyrille Civet, Jonathan André Jean-Marie Chavanne, Armando Matthieu Walter

In this paper, we propose an improvement of a dielectric elastomer actuator (DEA) based augmented aorta. The actuator is a multi-layered tubular DEA subject to the internal pressure of the blood. When activated in synchronisation with the heart, the DEA su ...

IOP PUBLISHING LTD2021