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

这个小企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是推动机器人系统中使用的机械设备的发展。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执行器的限制：电机笨重、昂贵，不能适应可变任务，而气动则受到速度和便携性、低效率和可控性之间的权衡的困扰。这个一期项目的重点是开发液压放大自修复静电（HASEL）执行器，这是一种新型的自传感、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致动器的失效机制，以提高工业自动化、消费机器人和国防等应用的可靠性和稳健性。这项小型企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目旨在调查和提高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)利用材料科学方法研究HASEL致动器的介电特性，以提高致动器的击穿强度；(2)利用机电测试研究非均匀电场浓度对HASEL致动器的影响，以进一步减轻此类效应的影响；(3)将目标1和目标2的结果转化为利用工业相关指标(如力输出、寿命、还有比能。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 (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.