Rotating turkeys and self-commutating artificial muscle motors
Abstract
Electrostatic motors—first used by Benjamin Franklin to rotisserie a turkey—are making a comeback in the form of high energy density dielectric elastomer artificial muscles. We present a self-commutated artificial muscle motor that uses dielectric elastomer switches in the place of bulky external electronics. The motor simply requires a DC input voltage to rotate a shaft (0.73 Nm/kg, 0.24 Hz) and is a step away from hard metallic electromagnetic motors towards a soft, light, and printable future.
- Publication:
-
Applied Physics Letters
- Pub Date:
- February 2012
- DOI:
- Bibcode:
- 2012ApPhL.100g4108O
- Keywords:
-
- biomedical engineering;
- biomedical equipment;
- electroactive polymer actuators;
- electrostatic motors;
- intelligent actuators;
- medical control systems;
- micromechanical devices;
- microswitches;
- 87.85.-d;
- 07.07.Tw;
- 85.85.+j;
- 84.32.Dd;
- 84.50.+d;
- Biomedical engineering;
- Servo and control equipment;
- robots;
- Micro- and nano-electromechanical systems and devices;
- Connectors relays and switches;
- Electric motors