3D-Printed High-Frequency Dielectric Elastomer Actuator toward Insect-Scale Ultrafast Soft Robot

Abstract

Insects with small and light bodies possess the capability of agile and fast movement in a small space. Inspired by nature, an insect-like soft robot may update the strategies in many scenarios like exploration, rescue, etc. However, the design and mass manufacture of soft robots combining insect size, fast mobility, good robustness, and impact-perception capability still present great engineering challenges. Herein, we report an insect-scale (15 mm body length (BL), 450 mg body weight) and ultrafast (∼4.0 BL s–1) soft robot. The remarkable motion performance is attributed to the high-frequency (760 Hz) operation as well as the long lifetime (>one million cycles) of its artificial muscle, which is a coil dielectric elastomer actuator (DEA) made by multimaterial coaxial three-dimensional printing with well-designed highly elastic materials and 5-inlets nozzle structure. The current robot is not only the smallest and fastest among the reported DEA-driven robots but also obtains high robustness, good environmental adaptability, and impact-perception capability: It can run on various grounds and complex paths, climb inside small pipes, work in robot swarms, and sustain and perceive the impact of the external environment.

Hygroscopic MXene/Protein Nanocomposite Fibers Enabling Highly Stretchable, Antifreezing, Repairable, and Degradable Skin-Like Wearable Electronics

“…With the gradual increase of interdisciplinary convergence and technological convergence, many new areas of development have emerged, such as implantable medical devices, soft robots, wearable devices, electronic fabrics, etc. − Particularly, the rise of personalized healthcare has spurred the development of flexible wearable and implantable electronic devices for monitoring physiological signals. Compared to conventional 3D and 2D electronic devices, fiber-based electronic devices have the advantages of high aspect ratio, lightweight, high flexibility, and weavability. − When applied to the skin, it can achieve a high degree of adaptability to the skin, thereby improving the comfort of the human body and enhancing signal fidelity during motion. , In health monitoring, fiber-based flexible sensors can monitor large-scale (such as the fingers, arms, and legs) and small-scale (such as emotional expression of face, breathing, and swallowing) human body movements to diagnose vocal cord damage, respiratory disorders, angina pectoris, etc. , Typically, the reported fiber-based sensors use stretchable elastomers, such as polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), Ecoflex, and polyurethane (PU), as substrates with the conductive materials coated on the surface or embedded in the matrix to realize a close fit with the human body. − For instance, Seyedin et al prepared a fiber-based wearable strain sensor with Ti 3 C 2 T x MXene embedded in PU by wet spinning, which exhibited high sensitivity and could be used to monitor elbow joint movement.…”

A Review on High‐Frequency Dielectric Elastomer Actuators: Materials, Dynamics, and Applications

“…The high‐frequency oscillation characteristics of DEA, especially the resonance, provide a solution for the rapid movement of mobile robots. [ 170 ]…”

“…The high-frequency oscillation characteristics of DEA, especially the resonance, provide a solution for the rapid movement of mobile robots. [170] The minimum energy structure is widely adopted in designing mobile robots driven by acrylic-based DEAs. Gu et al [171] reported a soft wall-climbing peristaltic robot with a DEA body and two electroadhesive feet as shown in Figure 7a.…”

Sidewinder‐Inspired Self‐Adjusting, Lateral‐Rolling Soft Robots for Autonomous Terrain Exploration

“…Soft robotics has emerged as a rapidly evolving field, offering environmental adaptation and autonomy for navigating challenging terrains and environments. [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ] Compared with the conventional robots using rigid components, soft robots that utilize soft actuators are highly environmentally adaptive and deformable into different shapes for various environments and can be effectively miniaturized to the centimeter scale or smaller. [ 5 , 6 , 7 ] In particular, they can find uses in complex, enclosed, or narrow spaces, such as gaps and vessels, and can navigate in maze‐like spaces.…”