SBIR Phase I: Rotary Electroadhesive Clutch for Lightweight and Energy-Efficient Actuators in Next-Generation Robots

这个小企业创新研究项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力将是使新的机器人系统具有比目前最先进的更轻、更便宜的执行器硬件。执行器的高成本和有限的性能是工程师开发移动应用产品的最大问题，如包裹递送、安全、灾难恢复和可穿戴辅助设备，导致市场分为功能极其有限的低成本机器人和价值数万或数十万美元的多功能机器人。离合器是降低执行机构要求和成本的重要途径，但传统的离合器体积大、重量重、耗电大，最终无法实现潜在的改进。在这个项目中，我们将开发一种比传统离合器轻10倍，功耗低1000倍的电粘离合器。这种硬件创新使机器人工程师能够在几乎没有质量或功耗损失的情况下使用离合器。消除这一限制将对机器人的商业可行性产生重大影响，这些机器人既有能力又能负担得起。这个小企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目将包括设计和表征一个紧凑的旋转电粘离合器。这项工作将建立在创建和表征线性电粘合离合器设计的最新成就的基础上，以最小的硬件更改为基础，向与现有机器人关节集成的旋转设计迈进。本工作的目的是通过实验优化材料和设计选择对旋转电胶离合器性能的影响，并建立性能指标来评估商业应用的可行性。设计工作将包括模拟、质量优化和制造技术的探索。实验工作将从最大扭矩、功率和速度测试、响应时间和耗散测试以及初步疲劳和磨损实验等方面对系统进行表征。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research project will be to enable new robotics systems with actuator hardware that is substantially lighter and less expensive than the current state-of-the-art. The high cost and limited performance of actuators are the greatest problems for engineers developing products for mobile applications, such as package delivery, security, disaster recovery, and wearable assistive devices, causing the market to bifurcate into low-cost robots with extremely limited functionality or versatile robots costing tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars. Clutches are an important way to reduce actuator requirements and costs, but conventional clutches are large, heavy, and power-hungry, ultimately negating potential improvements. In this project, we will develop an electro-adhesive clutch that is 10x lighter and uses 1000x less power than conventional clutches. This hardware innovation allows robotics engineers to use clutches with almost no mass or power consumption penalties. Removing this constraint will have a substantial impact on the commercial viability of robots that are both capable and affordable.This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will consist of the design and characterization of a compact rotary electro-adhesive clutch. This work will build on recent accomplishments in creating and characterizing the linear electro-adhesive clutch design to move toward a rotary design integrating with existing robotic joints with minimal required hardware changes. The objectives of this work are to experimentally optimize the effect of materials and design choices on the performance of the rotary electro-adhesive clutch, and to establish performance metrics to evaluate the feasibility of commercial use. Design work will include simulation, mass optimization, and exploration of fabrication techniques. The experimental work will characterize the system in terms of maximum torque, power, and speed testing, response time and dissipation testing, and preliminary fatigue and wear experiments.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.