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

小型企业创新研究(SBIR)第二阶段项目的更广泛影响/商业潜力将是创造一种轻便高效的旋转式电胶离合器，使制造、物流和医疗行业的机器人硬件性能得到改善。尽管经过了几十年的研究和商业努力，社会还没有意识到负担得起的机器人的广泛存在，这些机器人可以安全地与人类一起工作，并帮助他们进行日常生活。实现这一愿景的一个中心障碍是执行器高昂的成本和糟糕的性能。高效、轻便的离合器可以以具有竞争力的价格改善机器人的操作时间和安全性，是人类辅助机器人系统进入日常生活的门户。例如，廉价的运动辅助外骨骼可以改善数百万身体受损的人的生活质量，否则他们无法进行正常的日常活动。负担得起的机器人还可以增加获得昂贵的劳动密集型服务的机会，如日常身体康复或全职/兼职家庭护理。这一小型企业创新研究(SBIR)第二阶段项目将用于开发新材料，以了解新材料的特性，并将形貌、介电厚度和化学修饰等参数与旋转式电胶离合器性能相关联。将评估这些材料的电气和物理性能，以及是否易于融入电胶离合器组件和使用寿命。选择最佳材料将改善基本性能，同时继续降低旋转离合器设计的重量、占地面积和能耗。这些研究和开发活动将降低技术风险，并使生产准备就绪的产品得以建造。为了有效地实现这些目标，将通过开发自动化测试平台来提高测试能力，以帮助进行快速材料评估、寿命测试和迭代设计。对于基础材料的理解，将开发新的测试方案来评估新材料的电气和磨损特性，在腐蚀、涂层和粘合等领域产生广泛的科学影响。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势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 (SBIR) Phase II project will be to create a lightweight and efficient rotary electroadhesive clutch that enables improved robotic hardware performance across the manufacturing, logistics, and medical industries. Despite decades of research and commercial effort, society has yet to realize the widespread availability of affordable robots that can safely work alongside humans and assist them in their daily lives. A central obstacle in achieving this vision is the prohibitive cost and poor performance of actuators. Efficient, lightweight clutches that can improve robot operation time and safety at a competitive price are a gateway to the proliferation of human-assistive robotic systems into everyday life. For example, inexpensive motion assistance exoskeletons could improve the quality of life for millions of physically impaired people who are otherwise unable to engage in normal daily activities. Affordable robots could also increase access to expensive labor-intensive services, such as daily physical rehabilitation or full/part-time in-home care. This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project will be used to develop new materials understanding and correlate parameters such as morphology, dielectric thickness, and chemical modification to rotary electroadhesive clutch performance. The materials will be assessed for electrical and physical properties, as well as ease of incorporation into electroadhesive clutch assemblies and lifetime. Selecting optimal materials will improve fundamental performance while continuing to lower the weight, footprint, and energy consumption of rotary clutch designs. These research and development activities will de-risk the technology and enable the construction of a production-ready product. To efficiently achieve these goals, testing capabilities will be improved through the development of automated test stands to aid in rapid materials assessment, lifetime testing, and iterative design. For fundamental materials understanding, novel testing protocols will be developed that assess the electrical and wear properties of new materials, producing a widespread scientific impact in fields such as corrosion, coatings, and adhesion.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.