An autonomous untethered fast soft robotic insect driven by low-voltage dielectric elastomer actuators

Area of Science:

• Robotics
• Materials Science
• Actuation Technologies

Background:

• Insect-inspired robotics leverages natural compliance for resilience and maneuverability.
• Developing untethered, autonomous soft robots faces challenges in actuator power density and integrated electronics.
• Dielectric elastomer actuators (DEAs) offer high power density but typically require high voltages (kilovolts), limiting their application in small robots.

Purpose of the Study:

• To overcome the limitations of high-voltage requirements for dielectric elastomer actuators (DEAs).
• To develop and demonstrate a subgram, untethered, autonomous soft robot capable of locomotion and navigation.
• To integrate low-voltage DEAs with essential electronics and power for insect-sized robotic applications.

Main Methods:

• Development of low-voltage stacked dielectric elastomer actuators (LVSDEAs) operating below 450 volts.
• Construction of an insect-sized (40 mm) soft robot, the 'DEAnsect', utilizing three LVSDEAs for leg actuation.
• Integration of a 780 mg electronics package (optical sensors, microcontroller, battery) capable of outputting 450 V at up to 1 kHz.

Main Results:

• The DEAnsect robot body weighs 190 mg and can carry a 950 mg payload (5x body weight).
• The robot achieves an unloaded speed of 30 mm/s and demonstrates high robustness due to its compliant nature.
• The sub-500 V operation enabled the development of a lightweight, integrated system for autonomous path following.

Conclusions:

• Low-voltage stacked DEAs (LVSDEAs) successfully enable the creation of fast, resilient, untethered, and autonomous subgram soft robots.
• This advancement overcomes previous power supply limitations, allowing for integrated sensing, control, and power in miniature soft robots.
• The developed DEAnsect platform paves the way for a new generation of highly capable soft robotic systems.