A high speed soft robot based on dielectric elastomer actuators

Mihai Duduta; David R. Clarke; Robert J. Wood

ICRA 2017poster178 citations

A high speed soft robot based on dielectric elastomer actuators

Mihai Duduta, David R. Clarke, Robert J. Wood

Abstract

A multilayer fabrication method has been used to create crawling soft robots based on dielectric elastomer actuators. These actuators are created without the need for pre-stretch, eliminating the need for rigid components. A four-legged, multi-gait capable crawler can be fabricated in a matter of hours and shows promise for future untethered systems. Studies on inchworm robots show them to be the fastest dielectric elastomer actuator-based systems reported to date, capable of traveling faster than 1 body length/second for the best elastomer available. Most importantly, the devices are primarily soft and deformable, with few rigid attachments.

BibTeX

@inproceedings{icra2017_ahighspeedsoftro,
  title = {A high speed soft robot based on dielectric elastomer actuators},
  author = {Mihai Duduta and David R. Clarke and Robert J. Wood},
  booktitle = {ICRA 2017},
  year = {2017}
}