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Fabrication of zipping electrostatic actuators incorporating inkjet-printed layers

Giulio Grasso, Samuel Rosset, Herbert Shea

Zipping electrostatic actuators operate by bending flexible electrodes using electrostatic forces. This principle allows the use of a wide range of dielectric and conductive materials. Additive Manufacturing (AM) techniques can be used to fabricate these actuators. The selective direct deposition of multiple materials improves the actuator design flexibility, as customized prototypes can be fabricated without masks and moulds. Here we present the first integration of AM techniques in the fabrication process of Hydraulically Amplified Taxels (HAXELs), a class of electrostatic actuators combining zipping electrodes deformation with the inflation of a stretchable material using fluidic coupling. We use an inkjet printer (jetlab (R) 4 by MicroFab) to deposit Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) as the stretchable material and Ethyl Cellulose as a sacrificial material for fluidic features patterning. We integrate gold-sputtered, laser-cut Mylar foils for the flexible part of the actuator by encapsulating them between the inkjet-printed layers. After dissolving the sacrificial material, a dielectric fluid can be injected in the fabricated actuators. Qualitative evaluation of a fabricated device is reported, showing electrode zipping. The presented fabrication process allows future fabrication of highly integrated actuators having arbitrary shapes.

SPIE-INT SOC OPTICAL ENGINEERING2021

Inkjet Printing of Complex Soft Machines with Densely Integrated Electrostatic Actuators

Giulio Grasso, Samuel Rosset, Samuel Schlatter, Herbert Shea

A multimaterial inkjet printing method for integrated soft multifunctional machines is reported, combining dense arrays of electrostatic actuators, multilayer electrical routing, and complex networks of microfluidic channels in one printing process. Most additive manufacturing methods for soft robots are developed for devices driven by external fluidic pressure sources and are not suited to fabricate soft electrically driven actuators. To integrate electrostatic zipping actuators and microfluidics in stretchable soft machines without any rigid components, inks for sacrificial layers, dielectric elastomers, and compliant electrodes are developed herein, along with a unified printing process to print multilayer structures. Printed 2.5D stacks are transformed into fully functional 3D soft machines by inflating thin elastomer channels. Two demonstrators are reported, each consisting of seven printed layers: a flexible peristaltic pump and a compliant slug drive, inspired by the locomotion of slugs. The peristaltic pump has six integrated actuators, whereas the slug drive has 28 integrated actuators, generating a travelling wave used to transport objects. These soft devices demonstrate how inkjet printing produces densely packed high‐voltage actuators, including vias for electrical routing. Sensors and logic may be printed in the future to produce more complex autonomous soft machines.

2020