A Study on an Advanced Alternating Pressure System Using Particle Type Electro-Rheological Fluid

Abstract

For power microrobots that perform power-needed tasks in narrow spaces, we have proposed an alternating pressure system using ER valves. The ER valve controls an ERF (electro-rheological fluid) flow with its increased viscosity due to an applied electric field. In the alternating pressure system, an alternating flow is rectified with synchronously switching ER valves and supplied to a soft actuator, which realizes smaller piping space for multiple actuators. In the conventional system, liquid crystal type ERF was used, however, the ER valve cannot be shut off, which caused internal leakage. In this study, we proposed an advanced alternating pressure system using particle type ERF that can shut off the ER valves rapidly. We investigated the characteristics through numerical simulations. Then we fabricated the advanced alternating pressure system and clarified its characteristics and effectiveness experimentally.