SBIR Phase I: A study of the electromechanical failure modes in HASEL actuators

SBIR 第一阶段：HASEL 执行器机电故障模式的研究

• 批准号: 2014648
• 负责人: Timothy Morrissey
• 金额: $ 22.5万
• 依托单位: ARTIMUS ROBOTICS INC
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2020-05-15 至 2021-05-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2014648&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: SBIR; Phase; study; electromechanical; failure

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is to advance the development of mechanical devices used in robotics systems. Despite advancements in AI and computer vision, robots and machines are still limited by the actuators used: Motors are heavy, expensive, and not adaptable for variable tasks, while pneumatics are plagued by trade-offs between speed and portability, low efficiency, and controllability. This Phase I project focuses on the development of Hydraulically Amplified Self-Healing ELectrostatic (HASEL) actuators - a new class of self-sensing, high-speed, soft electrohydraulic actuators with benefits in high performance, low cost, and versatility. Phase I will address the failure mechanisms of HASEL actuators in order to improve reliability and robustness for applications including industrial automation, consumer robotics, and defense. This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project aims to investigate and enhance the electromechanical performance of HASEL actuators to evaluate their long-term commercial viability. The three key objectives of this project are: 1) Studying the dielectric characteristics of the HASEL actuators using material science approaches to enhance the breakdown strength of actuators, (2) Investigating the influence of inhomogeneous electric field concentration on HASEL actuators using electromechanical testing to further mitigate the influence of such effects, and, 3) Translating the results from objectives 1 and 2 to develop and characterize HASEL actuators using industrially-relevant metrics such as force output, lifetime, and specific energy.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.

这个小企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是推进机器人系统中使用的机械设备的开发。 尽管人工智能和计算机视觉取得了进步，但机器人和机器仍然受到所使用的致动器的限制：电机笨重，昂贵，不适合可变任务，而机器人则受到速度和便携性，低效率和可控性之间的权衡的困扰。第一阶段项目的重点是液压放大自愈静电（HASEL）执行器的开发-一种新型的自感知，高速，软电液执行器，具有高性能，低成本和多功能性的优点。 第一阶段将解决HASEL执行器的故障机制，以提高工业自动化、消费机器人和国防等应用的可靠性和鲁棒性。该小型企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目旨在研究和提高HASEL执行器的机电性能，以评估其长期商业可行性。该项目的三个主要目标是：1）使用材料科学方法研究HASEL致动器的介电特性以增强致动器的击穿强度，（2）使用机电测试研究不均匀电场集中对HASEL致动器的影响以进一步减轻这种效应的影响，以及，3）将目标1和2的结果转化为使用工业相关的度量（例如力输出、寿命、该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值进行评估，被认为值得支持和更广泛的影响审查标准。