Design of commercial applications of EPAM technology
Design of commercial applications of EPAM technology
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DOI：
10.1117/12.658775
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发表时间：
2006-03
期刊：
影响因子：
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通讯作者：
Neville A. Bonwit;Jonathan R. Heim;Marcus Rosenthal;C. Duncheon;A. Beavers
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Neville A. Bonwit;Jonathan R. Heim;Marcus Rosenthal;C. Duncheon;A. Beavers
电活性聚合物人工肌肉(EPAM[R])技术正在成为许多行业商业应用的强大、高性能、成本效益高的解决方案。自2004年成立以来，来自SRI国际公司的人工肌肉公司(AMI)一直通过创新的设计和制造工艺，严格追求这种形式的人造肌肉技术的商业化，极大地提高了各种应用的性能、可靠性和可制造性。该公司开发的可扩展解决方案包括空气和液体泵、阀门、直线和角度定位器、旋转马达、传感器和发电机。创新的设备设计展示了在广泛的操作环境中满足要求苛刻的应用的能力，并结合实际水平的功率密度和驱动寿命进行了讨论。集成的电子控制模块允许自由地将人造肌肉直接设计到新的或现有的产品线中，同时有效地管理从传统技术的过渡。简单的模块化、多功能的设计，再加上低成本的工业材料和灵活的自动化制造工艺，为消费电子、医疗设备和汽车等不同行业的产品提供了一种经济高效的解决方案。文中提供了几个案例，以说明基于EPAM[R]的设备的商业可行性。
Electroactive Polymer Artificial Muscle (EPAM[R]) technology is becoming a robust, high performance, cost effective solution for commercial applications in many sectors. Since its inception in 2004, Artificial Muscle, Inc. (AMI), a spinout company from SRI International, has rigorously pursued the commercialization of this form of artificial muscle technology through innovative designs and fabrication processes, dramatically increasing performance, reliability and manufacturability across a wide variety of applications. Scaleable solutions developed by AMI include air and liquid pumps, valves, linear and angular positioners, rotary motors, sensors and generators. Innovative device designs demonstrating the ability to meet the specifications of demanding applications across broad operating environments and combining practical levels of power densities and actuation lifetimes will be discussed. Integrated electronics control modules allow the freedom to design artificial muscles directly into new or existing product lines while effectively managing the transition from conventional technologies. Simple modular, versatile designs, coupled with low cost industrial materials and flexible automated manufacturing processes, provide a cost effective solution for products serving such diverse industries as consumer electronics, medical devices, and automobiles. Several case examples are presented to illustrate the commercial viability of EPAM[R]-based devices.