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Area of Science:

  • Materials Science
  • Robotics
  • Biomimetics

Background:

  • Flapping-wing control is crucial for micro aerial vehicles (FMAVs).
  • Existing electro-driven soft actuators struggle to balance low voltage requirements with high performance (strain, strain rate, power density).

Purpose of the Study:

  • To design and create novel electro-driven fibrous soft actuators using liquid crystal elastomer (LCE).
  • To evaluate the performance of these LCE actuators for biomimetic flapping-wing applications.

Main Methods:

  • Fabrication of electro-driven fibrous soft actuators from LCE.
  • Characterization of actuation performance: strain, strain rate, power density, and frequency bandwidth.
  • Mimicking dragonfly flight muscle actuation through electrical parameter control.

Main Results:

  • Achieved low voltage actuation (<6.4 V).
  • Demonstrated high actuation strain (up to 43%), fast strain rate (up to 1417% s⁻¹), and high power density (up to 1631 W kg⁻¹).
  • Successfully controlled flapping frequency, amplitude, and angle, and imitated dragonfly wing phase differences.

Conclusions:

  • Electro-driven LCE fibers exhibit excellent comprehensive performance for artificial muscles.
  • These actuators show significant potential for developing advanced biomimetic FMAVs.