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

SBIR 第二阶段：用于下一代机器人中的轻质高效执行器的旋转电粘附离合器

• 批准号: 2208905
• 负责人: Stuart Diller
• 金额: $ 94.42万
• 依托单位: ESTAT ACTUATION, INC.
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Cooperative Agreement
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-02-01 至 2025-01-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2208905&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: SBIR; Phase; II; Rotary; Electroadhesive

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.

这项小型企业创新研究（SBIR）II期项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力将是创建一个轻巧，高效的旋转式旋转式离合器，从而在整个制造业，物流和医疗行业中都能改善机器人硬件性能。尽管进行了数十年的研究和商业努力，但社会尚未实现可负担得起的机器人的广泛可用性，这些机器人可以与人类一起安全地工作并协助他们的日常生活。实现这一愿景的核心障碍是执行者的成本和性能不佳。可以以竞争力的价格改善机器人操作时间和安全性的高效，轻巧的离合器是通向人类辅助机器人系统进入日常生活的门户。例如，廉价的运动援助外骨骼可以改善数百万身体受损的人的生活质量，而这些人否则无法从事正常的日常活动。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，例如每天的身体康复或全/兼职内部护理。 这项小型企业创新研究（SBIR）第二阶段项目将用于开发新的材料理解和关联参数，例如形态学，介电厚度和化学修饰，以抗旋转的旋转路离合器性能。将评估材料的电气和物理特性，并易于将其纳入选举的离合器组件和寿命。选择最佳材料将提高基本性能，同时继续降低旋转离合器设计的重量，足迹和能耗。这些研究和开发活动将使技术降低风险，并能够构建适合生产的产品。为了有效地实现这些目标，通过开发自动测试摊位来帮助快速材料评估，终生测试和迭代设计，可以提高测试能力。为了理解基本的材料，将开发新的测试协议，以评估新材料的电气和磨损特性，在诸如腐蚀，涂料和粘附等领域产生广泛的科学影响。该奖项反映了NSF的法定任务，并被认为是通过该基金会的知识分子优点和广泛影响的评估来评估的。