A bucky gel actuator is a novel electro-active polymer (EAP), which is a low-voltage-driven dry soft actuator. In addition, the bucky gel device generates electromotive force when bending and then it can also be used as a sensor. Its device has a bimorph structure with polymer-supported bucky gel electrodes and a polymersupported ionic gel electrolyte. It can be fabricated by layer-by-layer cas...

This work describes an on-chip integrated micro-actuator device for slack-free carbon nanotube (CNT) resonators, improving frequency tunability and Q factor and to study non-linear mode interaction. The device fabricated on SOI wafer with low thermal budget (<600 K) encompasses a restricted symmetrical out-of-plane vibration and a stiff in-plane electro-thermal actuator with a displacement of ~...

A compact and monolithic multistable microsystem was developed to realize the accurate positioning on microscale by using a single actuator, without any sensors. The mobile part can be maintained in several stable positions at rest with intermediate steps high stability margin each position. Switching between performed both directions one axis actuator. Using mechanical intelligence encoded int...

Norman A. Fleck W. I. Milne University of Cambridge Department of Engineering Cambridge, CB2 1PZ United Kingdom Abstract. The in-plane motion of microelectrothermal actuator (‘‘heatuator’’) has been analyzed for Si-based and metallic devices. It was found that the lateral deflection of a heatuator made of a Ni metal is about ;60% larger than that of a Si-based actuator under the same power cons...

The electrochemical and electromechanical properties of actuators based on an ionic fluoropolymer (NafionTM) and non-ionic fluoropolymer (poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) [PVdF(HFP)]) gel fabricated using a single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) – an ionic liquid (IL) gel electrode, were compared with those of actuators based on a non-ionic fluoropolymer (PVdF(HFP)). The ionic co...

For maintenance microrobots for small diameter pipes in power plants and so on, a novel microgripper using divided-electrode type flexible electro-rheological valves (DE-FERVs) was proposed and developed. Each bendable finger consisted of the DE-FERV and a hydraulic rubber actuator and was several millimeters long. The DE-FERV had an axially divided parallel plate electrode pairs in a flexible ...

Articles you may be interested in Multiphysics of ionic polymer–metal composite actuator Thickness dependence of curvature, strain, and response time in ionic electroactive polymer actuators fabricated via layer-by-layer assembly We have employed the easy-to-scale-up method of spray-coating in combination with layer-by-layer self-assembly technique to fabricate ionic electroactive polymer actua...

This paper presents the development of a piezoelectric artificial cochlea (PAC) device capable of analyzing vibratory signal inputs and converting them into electrical signal outputs without an external power source by mimicking the function of human cochlea within an audible frequency range. The PAC consists of an artificial basilar membrane (ABM) part and an implantable packaged part. The pac...

A compact (150 mm3150 mm), electrostatic actuator for out-of-plane (z) actuation of a probe tip has been designed, fabricated, and tested. Static deflections of 60.7 mm out of the plane of the substrate have been achieved. The device consists of a single crystal silicon tip on a torsional cantilever with out-of-plane interdigitated electrode capacitors. This cantilever and electrode design allo...

Living muscle tissues and cells have been attracting attention as potential actuator candidates. In particular, insect dorsal vessel tissue (DVT) seems to be well suited for a bio-actuator since it is capable of contracting autonomously and the tissue itself and its cells are more environmentally robust under culturing conditions compared with mammalian tissues and cells. Here we demonstrate an...