Abstract
The improvement of soft inflatable microactuators using an actuation conversion mechanism is presented in terms of high-output generation; a bending inflatable microactuator with the conversion mechanism is designed to generate high-output bending motion. The designed microactuator consists of a pneumatic balloon on a base film and a conversion film over the balloon and ribs on the backside of the base film. A conversion film converts the inflating motion of a pneumatic balloon into a bending motion. The fabricated microactuator with a pneumatic balloon of 13 mm in diameter is 16 mm × 40 mm × 850 μm. A 25 μm thick polyimide film is used as a conversion film over the pneumatic balloon because polyimide film is both non-stretchable and flexible. An array of Si ribs (15 mm × 40 mm × 400 μm) is integrated on the backside of the base film. Analysis of the microactuators with and without the conversion mechanism indicates that the output performance is improved with the addition of the conversion mechanism, as designed. As a result, the microactuator with the conversion film generates a maximum force of 1.72 N at 80 kPa, whereas the microactuator without the conversion film generates a maximum force of 0.15 N at 40 kPa. The improved microactuator can provide 4.2 mN/mm3 as the force density. In addition to fundamental characterization, the performance characteristics of the actuators are examined by combining the fundamental results.
Highlights
The improvement of soft inflatable microactuators using an actuation conversion mechanism is presented in terms of high-output generation; a bending inflatable microactuator with the conversion mechanism is designed to generate high-output bending motion
Pneumatic balloon actuator fabricated by Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) technology based on the lithography[16] and bending balloon microactuator using electro-conjugated fluids[17] were classified in the balloon type
This contracting-type pneumatic balloon actuators (PBAs) can generate linear expansion and contraction by a pantograph structure holding balloons, which is composed of two polyimide films
Summary
The improvement of soft inflatable microactuators using an actuation conversion mechanism is presented in terms of high-output generation; a bending inflatable microactuator with the conversion mechanism is designed to generate high-output bending motion. Pneumatic balloon actuator fabricated by MEMS technology based on the lithography[16] and bending balloon microactuator using electro-conjugated fluids[17] were classified in the balloon type. The authors have continuously developed various types of pneumatic balloon actuators (PBAs) using MEMS-based thin film technology over the last 20 years[16,30,31,32,33]. This contracting-type PBA can generate linear expansion and contraction by a pantograph structure holding balloons, which is composed of two polyimide films. The contracting-type PBA using a pantograph mechanism was developed to make the best use of inflatable motion of pneumatic balloon. The maximum generated force by contracting-type actuator using KE-1606 achieved 2.5 N (110 kPa) while an actuator using PDMS generated 1.2 N (80 kPa)
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